An actual cure for diabetes? Really? Really!

[TreasonousBastard]

The good news-- this really looks like it works, and it can be on the market in maybe three years.

The bad news-- it's embryonic stem cells, and the fundie reaction has already started. Besides, the body's immune system has been attacking these cells.

More good news-- they're working on both problems and see solutions on the horizon.



http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/10/09/354708628/scientists-coax-human-embryonic-stem-cells-into-making-insulin

A team of Harvard scientists said Thursday that they had finally found a way to turn human embryonic stem cells into cells that produce insulin. The long-sought advance could eventually lead to new ways to help millions of people with diabetes.

<...>

"We are reporting the ability to make hundreds of millions of cells — the cell that can read the amount of sugar in the blood which appears following a meal and then squirts out or secretes just the right amount of insulin," Melton says.

The advance came after laboring for more than 15 years to find a way to turn human embryonic stem cells into so-called beta cells in the pancreas that make insulin.

<...>

And when Melton and his colleagues transplanted the cells into mice with diabetes, the results were clear — and fast.

"We can cure their diabetes right away — in less than 10 days," he says. "This finding provides a kind of unprecedented cell source that could be used for cell transplantation therapy in diabetes."

[EvolveOrConvolve]

1. This is really good news!

I wonder how long it will be before human trials can begin? I know at least one person who'd like to volunteer.

[Nay]

2. Does anyone know exactly how this would work with Type 2 diabetes? I

believe we type 2ers have insulin resistance rather than not enough insulin -- will these stem cells just provide us with more insulin only, or is some other mechanism involved? One of the medical reports I read seemed to say that only Type 2s who were on insulin would be benefited.

[TreasonousBastard]

3. Some of us produce too little insulin...

and should be helped. Most of us have a complex range of problems, and I'm far from the only one who progressed (regressed?) over the years from diet and exercise to oral meds and insulin.

But, you're probably right, if insulin resistance is the only problem, more of it wouldn't be an answer.

.

[Nay]

4. Certainly that's true; Type 2s in your situation would of course benefit. I was just

wondering how folks like myself (Metformin and diet only, 5.8 A1C) would see any benefit, other than knowing if my disease progressed as yours has, I'd be treated with stem cells. I guess I could always hope that ancillary research along the same lines would come up with a new discovery that would treat insulin resistance, eh?