New Hope for Type 1 Diabetes

[Angel]

There's hope on the horizon for people with type 1 diabetes. Islet cell transplantation may help minimize the need for insulin shots, and more importantly, ease one of the most serious complications of the condition.

Researchers led by James Shapiro, M.D., Ph.D., from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, transplanted islet cells into 36 patients who had been suffering from the condition for an average of about 27 years. Islet cells, which are responsible for producing insulin in the pancreas, are lacking in people with type 1 diabetes.

Researchers report the treatment eliminated the need for insulin shots for at least a year in 44 percent of the patients, and another 28 percent of the patients had partial islet cell functioning.

While freedom from the shots was short-lived -- by year two, more than two-thirds of the people who had been able to go without the daily injections had to resume them -- most of the study participants did see an improvement in hypoglycemic unawareness, a serious diabetic complication in which people are not able to recognize signs of low blood sugar. The condition can be deadly, especially when it occurs while a person is driving or when he or she is alone.

"This is the very first time a multicenter, international trial has been done in islet research," reports Dr. Shapiro. "This really shows that islet transplantation can be tremendously successful in protecting against hypoglycemic unawareness."