A new Canadian animal study published in Friday's issue of the journal Cell found that mice injected with capsaicin -- the chemical that makes chili peppers hot -- were rapidly cured of Type 1 diabetes.

Researchers from the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto believe that Type 1 diabetes -- the most serious form of the disease that usually appears in childhood -- is caused by malfunctioning pain nerves that surround cells in the pancreas.

In patients suffering from Type 1 diabetes, the pancreas fails to produce sufficient levels of insulin, causing inflammation and death of insulin-producing islet cells in the pancreas.