Submitted by Armen Hareyan on Sep 29th, 2006
Diabetes Treatment Hope
A recent study reveals that islet cell transplantation may decrease the need of insulin injections for people with type 1 diabetes.
complication of diabetes in which people can no longer recognize early symptoms of low blood sugar.
Insulin independence did not persist indefinitely in most cases, and less than a third of the people who had been freed from insulin injections after one year remained so by two years. However, individuals with functioning islets had improved control of their diabetes, even though they still needed to take insulin shots. Further research will be needed to improve and prolong the beneficial effects of the procedure, the researchers say.
"Dr. Shapiro and the ITN research team have improved our understanding of the potential of islet transplantation for certain patients with Type 1 diabetes," says NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. "Ongoing studies will further define the clinical utility of this approach."
"This really shows that islet transplantation can be tremendously successful in protecting against hypoglycemic unawareness," says Dr. Shapiro.
Source:
Pravda 