TULSA, Okla. — A new diabetes treatment that could delay the start of the disease is now being offered in Oklahoma.
“We found out the hard way,” said Shane Saunders. “She went into diabetic ketoacidosis. She came very close to death.”
A life-changing moment two years ago, when Shane Saunders and his then 11-year-old daughter, Bay, discovered her type 1 diabetes.
“It’s hard for people to understand that it’s a 24/7 disease,” said Saunders. “It’s constant monitoring of glucose. It’s administration of insulin before you’re eating and all day long.”
Saunders said in the 2 years since Bay’s diagnosis, they’ve seen things change for the better including a breakthrough treatment Tzield.
“What Tzield shows is that we’re making progress every day. As we learn more about this disease and how it affects people it gives us hope that a cure is right around the corner,” said Saunders.
While the treatment won’t work for 13-year-old Bay, who has stage 3 of type 1 diabetes, it could make a big difference for those with the early markers of the disease.
The American Diabetes Association says approximately 13% of Oklahoma's population has diabetes and 35% has prediabetes.
“It’s the first big step we’ve had for this illness in quite a while,” said Dr. David Sparling.
Dr. Sparling both treats patients with diabetes and researches it.
“This is the first time ever we’ve had really and truly a new drug that might slow the progression of type 1 diabetes,” said Dr. Sparling.
The FDA approved it in November 2022.
Recently the Oklahoma Children’s Hospital OU Health finished the first 14 day infusion shown to delay the onset of type 1 by about 2 years.
“Ultimately what Tzield provides is time and that’s the most precious commodity of them all,” said Saunders.
JDRF encourages testing as soon as possible.
“We need to identify you before you need insulin,” said Anastasia Albanese-O’Neill, the Association Vice President for Community Screening and Clinical Trial Education at JDRF. “That means you need to be screened so we can detect the earliest stages of type 1 diabetes and that’s when the drug is available for intervention to delay the destruction of those insulin producing cells and the need for insulin.”
For doctors and parents, they hope this is just one step closer to a cure. To learn more about testing click here.
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