The Cure 4 Diabetes Foundation Launches its New Website

Sarasota, FL (PRWEB) May 3, 2007 -- The Cure 4 Diabetes Foundation launches its new website.

This website will promote fund-raising efforts and events for the highly promising research effort known as the Edmonton Protocol, considered by some the most important advance in diabetes since the discovery of insulin. http://www.cure4diabetes.org/

The purpose of this website is to promote fund-raising efforts and events for the highly promising research effort known as the Edmonton Protocol.

http://www.cure4diabetes.org/

The most recent statistics from Edmonton state that one year after islet transplantation, 85% of the patients remain insulin free, and that after four years, 70% of the patients are still insulin free. With over 600 patients treated internationally, some have acclaimed the Edmonton Protocol as perhaps the most important advance in diabetes since the discovery of insulin.

The Edmonton Protocol, developed by Dr. James Shapiro, transplants healthy islet cells from a donor pancreas into insulin-dependent diabetics.

Cure 4 Diabetes Foundation is actively supporting the research of:

- Dr. James Shapiro, Director of the Clinical Islet Transplant Program, University of Alberta, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

http://www.cure4diabetes.org/edmontonprotocol-history.html

- Dr. Denise Faustman, Director of the Immunobiology Lab at Massachusetts General Hospital and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School

http://faustmanlab.org/

The promising BCG therapy being performed at the Faustman Lab at Massachusetts General Hospital has resulted in a permanent reversal of the autoimmunity associated with Type 1 diabetes in the severely diabetic non-obese mouse. This was the first time that anyone had reversed well-established autoimmunity in any animal model, and it was a remarkable and unprecedented outcome. Furthermore, diabetes was permanently reversed because Dr. Denise Faustman found that the islet cells of the non-obese mouse regenerated following therapy.

These two procedures are an illustration of how close we are to curing this epidemic disease. Research scientists depend upon grass-roots organizations like our Foundation to help fund and bring about awareness of their work.

The Edmonton Protocol was first tested in 1999 and the results were nothing short of miraculous. Dr. Shapiro and his team of doctors and scientists have enjoyed levels of success that are unprecedented in the field of islet transplantation surgery. His research is the basis for islet cell transplants around the globe.

Some transplant patients may need a small amount of insulin, but the persistent islet cell function provides far superior sugar control in comparison to what existed prior to the transplant. Patients are also protected from low blood sugar attacks. Currently, the Edmonton Protocol patients need to take immunosuppressant drugs to prevent donor islets from being rejected.

The goal of the Cure 4 Diabetes Foundation is to fund the Edmonton Protocol so as to solve long-term issues with islet survival; to find an unlimited cell supply source that does not rely on scarce organ donors; and also eliminating costly immunosuppressant drugs and their caustic side effects.
         
The results of the BCG therapy research, which were published by Dr. Faustman and her team in July 2001 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, represent a dramatic leap forward in developing potential treatments, even cures, for Type 1 diabetes and other autoimmune diseases. The mice remained free of autoimmunity for the remainder of their normal life spans without insulin or any other drug. In addition, the mice were not immunosuppressed and exhibited no adverse effects from the therapy.

In November 2003, Dr. Faustman's further findings were published in Science, documenting the brisk regenerative process of adult regeneration of the insulin-secreting islets of the pancreas. Since then, five international laboratories have verified her data showing end-stage diabetic mice can be cured using her published methods. It is now time to move to human testing for this promising therapy.

One of the unique aspects of this pre-trial and clinical trial program is how quick and relatively cost effective it will be to test the promising BCG therapy in humans with Type 1 diabetes. BCG is a generic drug that has been administered in millions of doses worldwide over the past 70+ years, as it is currently used at low doses for a vaccine against tuberculosis and at high doses as a cancer drug. BCG represents a drug that is ready to be used for human testing. Her research laboratory is preparing for Phase I human trials in 2008.

COMPANY INFORMATION
The Cure 4 Diabetes Foundation was founded by Frank and Linda Menke and Family of Sarasota, Florida, who know all too well the struggles of living with diabetes. Frank is a Type 1 diabetic. Linda's father is diabetic. Craig, their son and business partner, is a Type 1 diabetic, and his sister, Allison, was recently diagnosed with the disease. They want to find a cure not only for their own family, but also for the millions of others who are just like them. The CDC reports that 14.6 million Americans have diabetes, with another 6.2 million undiagnosed, and 230 million people have the disease worldwide. These numbers are increasing daily.

Fund Our Research-Based Foundation, Because Waiting Isn't An Option!

Cure 4 Diabetes Foundation
318 S. Washington Blvd.
Sarasota, Florida 34236

http://www.cure4diabetes.org/

Telephone: (941) 951-2141
Fax: (941) 951-2313

ANEXIO WEB DESIGN

The web site was designed and is hosted by Anexio, Inc. of Sarasota, Florida.
http://www.anexio.com/

Anexio Web Site Design Portfolio
http://www.anexio.com/newmedia-portfolio.html

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