Stem Cells May Free Diabetics From Insulin

Type 1 diabetics may be able to free themselves from insulin shots with injections of their own stem cells.

A research team from the University of São Paulo in Brazil and Northwestern University near Chicago has treated patients with Type 1 diabetes by treating them with their own stem cells.

In 2007, Dr. Julio Voltarelli of the University of São Paulo reported the successful treatment of 15 patients with Type 1 diabetes who were able to eliminate the daily, painful grind of insulin injections. In the new study, which included an additional eight patients, the stem-cell treatment led to the resurgence of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas.

“I wouldn’t use the word cure,” said Dr. Richard Burt of Northwestern University, a co-author. “But it appears we changed the natural history of the disease. It’s the first therapy for patients that leaves them treatment-free — no insulin, no immune suppression for almost five years,” he told Time magazine.

The treatment extracts and stores a patient’s stem cells. Patients then receive drugs, similar to those cancer patients receive, to destroy their immune systems. During the procedure, the elements in their immune systems that destroy the insulin-producing cells also are destroyed. When the stored stem cells are re-injected into patients, the cells regenerate a new immune system free of the elements that attack and kill the insulin-producing cells.

The treatment helped 20 of the 23 diabetics. Patients were free of insulin injections in an average of 31 months, and 12 remain insulin-free. Even though eight had to return to using insulin, the amounts needed were reduced. In some patients the levels of C-peptide, a component that is a result of insulin being produced, tripled.

Type 1 diabetes occurs when a patient’s immune system attacks itself and begins destroying cells in the pancreas that produce insulin, the hormone that keeps blood sugar levels even. In the past, it was referred to as “juvenile diabetes” because the majority of cases were diagnosed in children. More than 1 million Americans, both adults and children, have the disease.

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Now that Obama's in, stem cell trials begin

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Now that Obama's in, stem cell trials begin

In a move the Food and Drug Administration denies has anything to do with the new presidency, the federal agency granted permission this week to begin the country's first embryonic stem cell treatments on human subjects.

The FDA approved an application from Geron Corporation, based in Menlo Park, Calif., to inject stem cells derived from human embryos into 10 people paralyzed from the chest down by spinal cord injuries.

Read the latest now on WND.com.

The latest News

Interesting CBS News report about Regenerated Body Parts:

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3805459n

Stem Cells May Treat Diabetes

Scientists Coax Embryonic Stem Cells to Treat Mice With a Condition Like Type 1 Diabetes

By Miranda Hitti WebMD Medical News

Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Researchers report using embryonic stem cells to treat a condition like type 1 diabetes in mice.

Stem cells are cells that can develop into other types of cells. Embryonic stem cells can develop into a wide range of cell types.

In lab tests on mice, scientists at a San Diego company called Novocell grafted human embryonic stem cells into abdominal fat in mice. Before being implanted into the mice, those stem cells had been prepped to develop into pancreatic cells that get killed in type 1 diabetes.

Thirty days after implantation, the embryonic stem cells had morphed into pancreatic cells. And about two months after that, those pancreatic cells were up to speed at producing insulin, a hormone that controls blood sugar.

The experiment proves the potential for embryonic stem cells to treat type 1 diabetes, note the researchers, who included Emmanuel Baetge, PhD.

But the process isn't yet ready for use in people.

Of the 46 grafts that Baetge's team transplanted into the mice, seven led to tumors. Scientists worldwide are working on ways to harness the potential of stem cells while minimizing health risks from stem cell treatment.

Baetge and colleagues report their findings online in Nature Biotechnology.

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We also provide a discussion group that provides new updates on treatments and research in China and throughout the world and also allows people interested in treatments to get in touch with those who have already had treatment: China Stem Cells. There are two other non-affiliated groups that we feel are helpful for people interested in stem cell research and treatments in general: Stem Cell Safety and Brain Injury Alternatives for Kids.

If you are interested in getting more information about finding a treatment in China for a specific ailment, and you are in North America, you can call us toll free at 1-877-2STEMCELLS or contact us by e-mail.

Making Strides Without Red Tape

Meet Hunter, a 9-year-old golden retriever. His big, friendly personality dominates life at home with Frank and Linda Riha in Burbank, Calif.

"This is like our child," Linda said. "I mean he is such an important part of our family."

Making Strides Without Red Tape

In the race to perfect "regenerative medicine," stem cell therapy for animals is ahead of treatment for humans because it is not so strictly regulated. It's not experimental -- it's here.

And while the debate rages over the ethics of embryonic stem cell research, doctors have made stunning progress with "adult" stem cells recovered from body fat.

They are less powerful than embryonic cells, but they don't require the destruction of an embryo. There are no side effects and no problems with rejection, because the patient is also the cell donor.