Researchers Look To The Sea For Latest Diabetes Treatment

Filed in archive Research on February 21, 2006

Coffee, pig cells, lizard venom...perhaps you thought we'd reached the absolute limits in diabetes treatment.

Apparently not, because researchers are now raving about...seaweed bubbles. No, really.

From Health & Medical News:Encapsulating insulin producing cells in tiny seaweed bubbles and injecting them into people with type 1 diabetes could one day remove the need for daily insulin injections, an Australian researcher says.

If the trial works, it will mean that insulin producing cells, or islets, can be transplanted, effectively reversing type 1 diabetes, without the need for immunosuppressive drugs.

This is because the capsules protect the transplanted cells from being sought out and destroyed by the body's immune system.

The capsules also contain tiny holes that let the insulin flow out while allowing oxygen and nutrients in.Every time I read a story like this, I can't help but think of my wonderful, beautiful grandmother, who died of diabetes complications 15 years ago. What would she have thought of the inspiring effort put forth today to alleviate and even cure her illness?