After several years of study, researchers at the University of Florida have discovered a "drug cocktail" for patients with Type 1 diabetes that appears to give them the ability to produce insulin again, the Gainesville Sun reports.
The results are from a 25-patient study at UF College of Medicine; researchers say they are "cautiously optimistic" about the study. Seventeen of the Type 1 diabetes patients who went through treatment with the two drugs appeared to regain the ability to produce insulin, while eight patients who took a placebo did not.
While the study was small, it offers researchers optimism because the drugs together seem to offer a synergistic effect. Also, both drugs have already been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for other purposes.
In the U.S. alone, more than 29 million people have been diagnosed with diabetes, and 5 to 10 percent of those are Type 1, according to the Centers for Disease Control.