Being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes used to mean a lifetime of dealing with the disease. It meant constantly taking your blood sugar to make sure it was within healthy levels and injecting yourself with insulin if it wasn’t. It meant constantly worrying about the fact that the average lifespan of someone with type 1 diabetes is 5-8 years shorter than average. But scientists are constantly searching for a cure for type 1 diabetes, and they are closer than ever before.
Islet Cell Transplantation
If you have type 1 diabetes, controlling your diet used to be the only other real way, besides insulin shots, to cope with the disease. But now, scientists have found hope for a cure – they have developed a procedure known as islet call transplantation.
An islet cell is a cell in the pancreas that produces hormones. In type 1 diabetes patients, the pancreas has stopped producing insulin because it is under attack by the body’s immune system. Scientists realized that it was possible to find a cure for type 1 diabetes by trying and transplanting a pancreas or even just the healthy cells within it.
In 1967, Paul Lacy and a group of fellow doctors came up with a new method for isolating islet cells. All through the 1970s and 1980s, the procedure was tested and improved. The first successful human trial of islet transplantation occurred in 1990, but despite improvements, only 10% of recipients in the late 1990s achieved a normal blood glucose level.
In 2000, Dr. James Shapiro published a report claiming that seven consecutive patients had achieved euglycemia (normal blood glucose levels). Shapiro had used a large number of donor islets, and the procedure became known as the Edmonton protocol. That is the procedure used today, and our best hope of a cure for type 1 diabetes.
The Procedure
For an average person’s islet transplantation to be successful and for a person to be cured of type 1 diabetes, around a million islets are needed from two donor pancreases. The islets are taken from the pancreas, purified, and transferred to the patient. The islets are introduced to the liver via a catheter.
Hurdles
However, the procedure is still considered experimental in the United States. To even be able to undergo the procedure – and thus have a shot at a cure for type 1 diabetes – you have to participate in a clinical trial. Another hurdle is the fact that there are not enough donor pancreases, so the wait even if you are able to participate in the trial is a long one.
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Some scientists are also unsatisfied with the long term results of the procedure and how viable it is as a cure for type 1 diabetes. According to reports, two-thirds of the recipients had achieved “insulin independence” during the year following their transplant. However, as time increases, the islet cells start to lose their ability to produce insulin, and at a 2-year follow up, only around a third were still insulin independent. Most agreed that in all patients the need for insulin had dropped significantly thanks to the procedure.
Hope Is On The Horizon
Like any other transplant procedure, it’s not perfect. But islet cell transplantation is perhaps the best option we have for trying to cure type 1 diabetes, and just think – with how effective it is now, how long will it really take to perfect the procedure? We’re so close to a cure – just remember to never lose hope!
