Stem Cells May Stop/Reverse Diabetes

Filed in archive Developments , Notable , Research , Treatment on April 12, 2007

Stem cell therapy tested on type 1 diabetes patients at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine resulted to foregoing insulin.

This is the first time to demonstrate that Type 1 diabetes can be halted and may be reversed by a stem-cell transplant.

The transplant preserves the body's diminishing ability to manufacture insulin, the Times said. The strategy is comparable to treatments for other immune system disorders like lupus.

The researchers warned though that like bone marrow transplants, there are risks to the stem-cell approach mainly because diabetics are vulnerable to infection.

While it is not yet known if the cure is permanent, or how long it might last (said Dr. Richard Burt, chief of Immunotherapy for Autoimmune Diseases at Northwestern), the fact still remains that this is a big leap in diabetes research.

Read the full report at LA Times.

[photo credit: science in public]