Did We Just Cure Diabetes?
Brian Ragain, RN

“Type 1 Diabetes is an Auto-Immune Disease”
Graphic provided by ICVBM/CMMRF

Cryptic Masons, though our charity Cryptic Masons Medical Research Foundation CMMRF.org, provided a major portion of funding for Dr. Michael Murphy and his all-star team, may have done just that! Of course it is still too early to say that we have cured diabetes, but the science is pointing that direction.

Imagine your family and friends no longer watching everything that they eat, no longer checking their blood sugar multiple times a day, and no longer injecting insulin. About 9% of the American population has diabetes. The side effects of diabetes is also brutal… vision loss, impaired kidney function, decreased circulation in the legs, etc.

Is this too good to be true? Since it hasn\’t been tried in humans, it\’s too early to say definitively. But hope is in the air! Dr Murphy\’s team may have found the cause of the 13th leading cause of death, ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm, as well as developing a vaccine for it! Might as well throw in the treatment of heart failure, COPD, spinal cord injury, Stroke patients with a 36 hour window after onset of symptoms, treatment of diabetic foot ulcers and Peripheral Artery Disease, fetal alcohol syndrome, necrotizing enterocolitis, as well as using a 3D printer to create structures for human tissue repair. These discoveries might have even lead another team to find the trigger for Multiple Sclerosis, and once the trigger is found, the treatment is not far behind!

Every Masonic organization is tied to a charity, but this may be one of the best kept secrets in Masonry! And just like every other charity, it cannot continue without funds. These donations aren\’t getting lost in some rich guy\’s pocket or paying for a night of drinks. They are used to purchase lab equipment and to supplement the cost of finding and treating these trial patients. CrypticMasons.org and CMMRF.org are not asking for much, just a few bucks to equal the price of a fancy coffee, a lunch out, or a small family dinner. We all know that nothing in the medical field is cheap, but with adequate funding, Dr Murphy\’s team can continue to advance these breakthroughs. And who knows… maybe cancer is next?

Editor\’s Note: This is the second of eight articles created by Companion Brian and reviewed and edited by Dr. Joe Rouse, MD, MIPGM AR, CMMRF Trustee, intended to provide all of us with a better understanding of the astounding work being done at the Indiana Center for Vascular Biology and Medicine and funded by the Cryptic Masons Medical Research Foundation. The information here can be easily presented to your Council (Lodge, or anywhere) in less than five minutes. Over the course of the articles, you will find that our Charity is doing astounding things that do actually impact our Companions, Brothers and Friends.