Skin therapy may save children from lifetime of insulin injections

A DRUG used for the skin condition psoriasis could help treat the early stages of type 1 diabetes in children and young people without the need for insulin, a trial has found.

- Hanna Geissler

The injection treatment, known as ustekinumab, targets "trouble-making cells" in the blood, say researchers, who hailed it as a "great example of precision medicine"." The trial by Cardiff University, King's College London, Swansea University and the University of Calgary included patients aged 12-18 with recent-onset type 1 diabetes.

And 62 patients were analysed for the results, with 41 on ustekinumab and 21 in a placebo group.

Trigger

After a year, researchers found C-peptide levels - a sign the body is producing insulin - were 49% higher in those in the ustekinumab group.