I was fascinated to read this article (and then keen to go and get my hands on some of the medicine and time-travel back to the early 90s).

This is the gist of the article:

At Malmo University Hospital, Lund University in Sweden, large screening tests results in a continuous identification of children that are subject to a very high risk of developing type 1 diabetes. By measuring different biomarkers in blood samples, it is possible to determine in an early stage that these children are in the autoimmune disease process that destroys their insulin producing cells. If vaccination with Diamyd(r) succeeds to intervene in the disease process before too many of the insulin cells are destroyed, the disease will be prevented. The child would then escape diabetes symptoms and would not become dependent on insulin injections for survival, which otherwise is unavoidable.

And I have to agree with these sentiments:

“To stop the immune attack on the insulin producing cells in type 1 diabetes maybe easier the sooner it is done in the disease process,” says Professor AAke Lernmark, at Lund University, Sweden. “It is like steering a big boat away from a threatening collision. The sooner the course is changed, the better. A timely change in the course of the disease – no insulin injections – that may be this century’s contribution to curing autoimmune diabetes. Last century’s contribution? Insulin injections!”

I have to say I had no idea medical professionals could identify people who are at risk of type 1. This is interesting, I must do a bit more reading about it. Surely (and maybe this is a bit simplistic) if the medical professionals can see type 1 coming, they can do more about learning how to reverse it? The rest of the article is here.