British man with type 1 diabetes to receive tests after coming off insulin

US doctors are conducting tests on a British man who no longer uses insulin to treat his type 1 diabetes.
Daniel Darkes, from Daventy in Northamptonshire, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes seven years ago. But his recent tests have baffled doctors as his pancreas has shown signs of working properly again.
Branded ‘Miracle Dan’ by his friends, the 30-year-old recently travelled to America so doctors could run tests to further understand what had happened to his body.
Speaking to the Northampton Chronicle and Echo newspaper, he said: “I had numerous tests, about four or five, to confirm the main reason why my pancreas had started producing insulin again.
“One of the tests involved me running on a treadmill. They starved me for a good six hours before, and I spent about 30 minutes running at a constant speed to see if my brain went into a kind of shock mode, or starvation mode, to see if it would send signals down to the organs, i.e. my pancreas, which it did.”
The doctors also inserted a microchip into his back to measure his protein levels and shone a UV light on his pancreas to detect cells.
Doctors think the medical breakthrough might have been caused by a signal sent from his brain to his pancreas. He is also a long-distance runner, which could have contributed to his improved health.
Mr Darkes was as surprised as anyone, adding: “You can reverse type 2 diabetes through dieting and exercise, [but type 1 reversal] is not something that happens every day. So, if the pancreas is able to recharge itself in some way then that is a big step.”
Mr Darkes says that doctors are now 80 per cent convinced he is cured of the condition, which has never before been reversed.
The findings from Mr Darkes’ test results are set to be published next week and it is hoped they will help find future treatments for the autoimmune condition.