Trading In An Insulin Pump For The Drug Sulphonylurea

I have shared in the past that one of my guilty pleasures in life is perusing the website Perez Hilton for all the important news in and around Hollywood, hahaha. I was joking on the important part… Well, one of my other very embarrassing, as my husband calls it, lil’ pleasures in life is my good ol’ People magazine! I love the dirt, the accusations and the occasional really good, informative story, which is what this would fall under.

Some of you might have already seen the article and read through it but for those that didn’t, I’m going to share. The story is about a Chicago first grader Lilly Jaffe who has been diabetic since she was one month old and her trials, complications and use of an insulin pump. At this point in her very young and full life Lilly does not need any insulin or pumps anymore, she takes pills to control her diabetes and is living a very active life. Um huh, I said pills!

After years of uncontrolled blood sugars and her father attending a conference, doctors discovered that Lilly had what they call “sleeping” insulin producing cells, which is marked on your insulin gene and can be stimulated by a drug that has been safely used in adults for years… sulphonylurea.

Sulphonylurea works on the beta cells of the pancreas to increase the secretion of insulin. And viola, success! Lilly now plays soccer, dances her heart out at ballet class and even has sleepovers with her girlfriends. Her father calls it a “miracle”.

via People magazine, December the 24th, 2007