Last Updated on April 19, 2026
For decades there has been countless amount of research conducted about the causes of diabetes. In case you missed the exciting news, there has been a discovery of a generic blood pressure medication that can cure diabetes in mice. In 2014, researchers made a significant discovery in what could be causing diabetes and how we can combat it.
A research study completed at the University of Alabaman at Birmingham has shown that verapamil, a common blood pressure medication could have an outstanding side effect, curing diabetes. The experiment used mice with diabetes and blood sugar levels over 300 mg/dL. The results showed verapamil was able to eliminate both type 1 and type 2 diabetes in mice.
The research at UAB showed that verapamil lowers thioreoxin interacting protein (TXNIP). The experiments showed that high glucose levels leads to higher TXNIP levels. The excessive TXNIP then kills beta cells, which then translates into diabetes. So, if verapamil is able to lower TXNIP it might be able to reverse diabetes or at least reduce the effects.
Verapamil has been on the market as a blood pressure medication for the last 30 years. Currently you can refill a prescription for verapamil at Wal-Mart for less than $10. The drug has been used to treat high blood pressure, migraines, and irregular heartbeats. As a blood pressure medication, verapamil has shown few side effects, none of them being major.
Verapamil has been tested as a diabetes cure in mice, but is currently beginning testing for human diabetics. After showing the positive results from their testing with mice, UAB received an impressive three-year grant from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation for $2.1 million to conduct similar experiments with humans. The study will feature 52 participants of varying ages from 19 to 45 years old. Each participant will be randomly selected to receiver t verapamil or a placebo alternative; both groups will remain on their insulin pumps. The trial will last for one year.
This will be the first experiment that has looked to reduce TXNIP to cure diabetes. While it’s still too early to declare these results a “major breakthrough”, but this could very well be a huge step in finding a cure for diabetes. Even if the result of the study with humans doesn’t produce the same results, the new data it will provide could lead to several major research projects. Dr. Anath Shalev, the leading researcher at UAB stated, “We want to find new drugs – different from any current diabetes treatments – that can help halt the growing, worldwide epidemic of diabetes and improve the lives of those affected by this disease”
Dr. Shalev later went on to say that verapamil isn’t going to be a “miracle drug”. If it turns out that the blood pressure medication can in fact cure diabetes, it will not be an immediate healing. Because of the large number of destroyed beta cells in diabetics, beta cells being rebuilt could be a slow process.
Finding a cure for diabetes could completely change the culture of the United States. 29 million people are diagnosed with diabetes in the United States alone; with almost 2 million more being diagnosed every year Diabetes is the 7th leading cause of death in the United States. The disease costs the U.S. around $245 billion dollars every year. Not only would curing diabetes save millions of dollars every year in health care expenses, but it would also save countless lives across the world. The clinical studies using humans is still in the early stages, but it’s hard not to get our hopes up over finding a cure.
