LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- There's a life-changing new federally-approved treatment that delays Type 1 diabetes for up to five years.

Norton Healthcare's Wendy Novak Diabetes Institute participated in some of the research for the new drug, Tzield, and now is one of the first in the tri-state area of Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee to offer it to eligible patients.

Kylie Smith, 15, is the institute's first patient. With no family history, the introduction to diabetes for the Smith family started two years ago, when Kylie's little sister, Taylor, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

"Are you sure that that's it? Or could it just be something else?'" Amanda Smith, the girls' mother, said about hearing the diagnosis. "And then they assured us that it was diabetes. And when they admitted her into critical care, then it was heart-wrenching."

Type 1 diabetes is a disease in which the pancreas produces little to no insulin, a necessity to survive because insulin regulates blood sugar. Pretty soon after that initial diagnosis, doctors at Norton's Novak Diabetes Institute recommended the other girls get a blood test to see if they were also at-risk for diabetes.

"We were immediately saying 'When can we get there? When can we get the other girls in?'" Smith said.

Kylie's blood work came back showing she had the antibodies that increase the risk of diabetes.

"Her body was struggling to control those blood sugars," said Dr. Kupper Wintergerst, director of the Wendy Novak Diabetes Institute.

In November 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Tzield, a drug administered with 14 days of an infusion through an IV. It's meant to delay the onset of Type 1 diabetes in adults and children 8 years and older who currently have stage 2 Type 1 diabetes.

The FDA said people have a higher risk of Type 1 diabetes if they have a parent or sibling with the disease. Tzield is aimed at delaying what is often a genetic inevitability. Most people diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes find out as children or young adults.

Kylie Smith

Kylie Smith was the first candidate to receive Tzield — not just in Louisville but in the entire tri-state region. Oct. 31, 2023. (WDRB Photo)

"The drug's potential to delay clinical diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes may provide patients with months to years without the burdens of disease," John Sharretts, M.D., director of the Division of Diabetes, Lipid Disorders, and Obesity in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in 2022.

Essentially, Tzield teaches the body to fight back, delaying the disease for two to five years. 

"Once this was FDA approved, we knew this could transform the lives of so many patients and families," Wintergerst said. "It's a medical breakthrough."

In April of this year, almost exactly two years after her sister's diagnosis, Kylie received 14 consecutive days of infusions through an IV.

"Toward the middle, it was pretty rough," she said Tuesday.

But she pushed through, and now, six months later, she is showing positives signs the drug is working, the pain of two weeks of infusions worth it for the possibility of delaying diabetes for years.

"I'm extremely grateful," Kylie said. "It's worth it."

Wintergerst recommends anyone with a family member with Type 1 diabetes to get tested.

"To see Kylie be given this opportunity in the hope for a cure, it's more than we could ever wish for," Amanda Smith said.

"I don't think words can describe it, especially having a child that's already went through this and seeing the struggle" added Matthew Smith, Kylie's father.

Kylie and her family hope that with the extra time there might be another medical breakthrough to further delay diabetes or even a cure.

If you're interested in getting more information about eligibility, click here.

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