Volunteers Needed

Volunteers Needed

TYPE 1 DIABETES PREVENTION TRIAL NEEDS VOLUNTEERS

Can type 1, insulin-dependent diabetes be prevented? If blood
tests suggest you are at high risk of developing the condition, can anything
be done to stop the process?
Type 1 diabetes, with its absolute insulin deficiency and the
resulting need for daily insulin injections, occurs when the body's own immune
system mistakes the insulin-producing Beta cells of the pancreas for "invaders,"
as if they were germs, and attacks them. Researchers, who already know how the
body's immune system picks its targets and destroys them, wondered if the "ICA"
(islet cell antibody) attack on the Beta cells could be deterred or short-circuited,
preventing or delaying the onset of diabetes.
The National Institutes of Health has launched a research study
to answer that question. Researchers want to know:

A. Whether daily insulin injections, given to persons judged
at high risk of developing type 1 diabetes (but not yet "diabetic"),
might slow or prevent the disease.
B. Whether oral insulin, insulin pills, might "teach"
the immune system and its ICAs to "accept" the Beta cells, halting
the destructive process that causes type 1 diabetes. This "oral tolerization"
has already worked in animal trials.

Major tests of this type cannot be done in some laboratory.
They cannot be done quickly. They cannot be simply modelled on a computer. The
Diabetes Prevention Trial--Type 1 needs volunteers, people at high risk of developing
diabetes, to participate, to prove whether either of these approaches has merit.
If either technique results in a significant reduction or delay in full-blown
diabetes (as compared to similar folks not receiving the insulin), we will have
a potent new tool for diabetes prevention.
Researchers are still looking for close relatives of persons
with type 1 diabetes, to participate in the study. Eligible participants must:
Be between the ages of three and 45 years, be willing to accept either "injecting,"
"oral," or "control group" assignment, have blood test results
that show the person is at high risk of developing type 1 diabetes, and must
have a close relative with type 1 diabetes. The researchers have very specific
questions to answer, and need to interview thousands of people to get the right
test subjects. If you fit the criteria, and a free preliminary test finds you
have the ICAs, the islet cell antibodies, in your blood, you might be one of
them.
Nine different diabetes centers, located in California, Colorado,
Minnesota, Washington State, Florida, and Massachusetts, will gather data. More
than 350 "screening sites" across the country will help researchers
find the right test subjects. Participants living in other areas can have tests
forwarded by their family physician. For information and a list of screening
sites, call the Diabetes Prevention Trial--Type 1 (DPT-1) National Coordinating
Center, located in Miami, Florida; telephone: 1-800-425-8361.