Mother of two first to get 'incredible' diabetes drug

A mother of two has become the first adult in the UK to try a "groundbreaking" drug which can delay the need for insulin in diabetes patients.

- REBECCA THOMAS

Hannah Robinson, a 36-year-old dentist, is being treated with teplizumab at Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust after discovering during pregnancy she was in the early stages of developing type 1 diabetes. A handful of people are also being given the medicine on a case-by-case basis while it is reviewed for wider use on the NHS.

With type 1 diabetes, the immune system attacks insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, meaning blood sugar levels are no longer regulated by the body, and people with the condition, therefore, need daily insulin. If blood sugar is too high or too low, it can cause serious health problems and even death.

Teplizumab, which is already approved in the US, trains the immune system to stop attacking pancreatic cells, delaying the need for insulin by an average three years.