Could type 2 diabetes be curable one day? In an effort to find out, a team at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM) / Montreal Clinical Research Institute led by doctor and researcher Rémi Rabasa Lhoret is studying a therapy that uses an innovative approach.
In Quebec, 830,000 people have diabetes, and 90% of them have type 2 diabetes. Despite the numerous available treatments, nearly half of patients with type 2 diabetes struggles to achieve the recommended blood sugar levels. If left untreated, high blood sugar can lead to various long-term complications, including vision loss, amputation and kidney failure. Therefore, when patients have difficulty controlling their blood sugar levels, treatment is gradually intensified to prevent such complications: new medications are progressively added and doses are increased.
What if a totally different intervention, involving short-term intensive treatment in early years after after diagnosis, could provide long-term normal blood sugar without any pharmacologic treatment? This may seem counterintuitive, but is in fact what an innovative approach currently under study suggests, the first results of which are encouraging.
“The therapy involves helping participants make sustainable lifestyle changes, such as improving their diet and physical activity, and administering three diabetic medications but only for 12 weeks,” explains Dr. Rabasa-Lhoret, Director of the IRCM Metabolic Diseases research unit, who is collaborating on the Canada-wide study. “We’d like to see whether it’s possible to reverse the disease with short-term intensive treatment and a structured follow-up.”
The administration of treatment and the evolution of the patients’ condition are closely monitored by health care professionals. So far, almost 50% of participants involved in previous clinical trials have managed to control their condition for up to two years without having to take medication again.
Participants needed
Some 100 patients across Canada will participate in the study, called REMIT-Sita. Dr. Rabasa Lhoret’s team is looking for about 20 patients who can come to the IRCM clinic in Montreal on a weekly basis for 12 weeks, then on five other occasions in the year following therapy. The patients must have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes less than five years ago, be aged 30 to 80 and not be taking insulin.
For more information about the trial, please contact Katherine Desjardins at 514 987-5581 or katherine.desjardins@ircm.qc.ca.
About the IRCM
Founded in 1967, the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM) / Montreal Clinical Research Institute is a non-profit organization that conducts fundamental and clinical biomedical research in addition to training high-level young scientists. With its cutting-edge technology facilities, the institute brings together 33 research teams, which work in cancer, immunology, neuroscience, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, systems biology and medicinal chemistry. The IRCM also operates a research clinic specialized in hypertension, cholesterol, diabetes and cystic fibrosis, as well as a research centre on rare and genetic diseases in adults. The IRCM is affiliated with the Université de Montréal and associated with McGill University. Its clinic is affiliated with the Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM). The IRCM is supported by the Ministère de l’Économie, de la Science et de l’Innovation (Quebec ministry of Economy, Science and Innovation).
Source:
Anne-Marie Beauregard, Communication Advisor
Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM) / Montreal Clinical Research Institute
514 987-5555 | anne-marie.beauregard@ircm.qc.ca
