Created: 4/28/02
For 90 million people worldwide, including 4.5% in the United States, having diabetes significantly impacts quality of life and comes with many complications.
Source: http://www.bd.com/diabetes/whats_new/safety.html?1
Existing therapies are invaluable, but far less effective than the body's own system of regulating blood glucose levels. What if the body's method of regulation could be employed by replacing and protecting this damaged system?
Stem cells, which can differentiate into the various cells found throughout the body, may provide an avenue of restoring glucose regulating function to diabetics.
However, many obstacles remain. Can the cells devised for such a treatment be made to resist the autoimmune dysfunction which causes type I diabetes? Can enough cells be delivered and controlled to treat type II diabetes with any efficacy? Or will insulin therapy always provide the safest and most effective course of treatment for diabetes? Although no one yet knows the answers to these questions, this website may help to give you an idea of the current trends in diabetes research.
Michael
J. Lysaght, PhD, Extreme Driver