Results of a clinical trial looking into the effectiveness of an experimental drug have found it to be successful in blocking the progress of diabetes.

The new drug has opened up the real possibility that, if the disease is diagnosed early enough, the onset of full-blown Type 1 diabetes could be halted before irreparable damage like blindness, heart disease, kidney failure and the need for limb amputations is done.
The trial results showed that the patients benefitting most were those who still had relatively good control of their blood sugar levels and only a moderate need for insulin injections.
Most of the trial patients were under 14 years old and had been diagnosed within eight weeks of the start of the trials.
The patients responding to the drug were able to maintain their insulin production for the full two years of the trial.
The findings have been published online in the journal Diabetes.
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