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Stem Cell Treatment May "Cure" Diabetes

April 11, 2007

Diabetes • Studies Find Link Between Diabetes and Alzheimer's • Avandia Maker Failed To Report Required Data • Prediabetes: What You Should Know • Study: Large-Breasted Women More Diabetes-Prone • U.S. Diet Dishes Up Diabetes • Weight-Loss Surgery Seen Beneficial to Diabetics • Lack of Deep Sleep May Increase Diabetes Risk • Study: Avandia May Do More Harm than Good • FDA Orders New Warning For Avandia • U.S. Kidney Disease on the Rise • Fish Oil May Fight Diabetes • Avandia vs. Actos: A Doctor's Advice • Avandia Linked to 42% Greater Risk of Heart Attack • Soft Drink Sweetener Linked to Diabetes in Kids • Diabetes Drugs to Get 'Black Box' Warnings • FDA Rejects Advice to Pull Avandia From Market • FDA Advised to Pull Avandia From Market • Avandia, Other Diabetes Drugs Increase Risk of Heart Failure • Dairy Products May Protect Against Metabolic Syndrome • Portion-Control Dishes May Help Obese Diabetics • FDA Issues Safety Alert on Diabetes Drug Avandia • Stem Cell Treatment May "Cure" Diabetes • Diabetes Risk May Be In The Genes • Holiday Gluttony Can Spell Disaster for Undiagnosed Diabetics • Malaria Drug May Fight Common Cause of Diabetes, Heart Disease • Feds Attack Fake Diabetes Cures • FDA Approves New Treatment for Diabetes • Feds Warn Of Counterfeit Diabetes Tests • Study: Weightlifting Helps Overweight Teens Avoid Diabetes • Researchers Say They Can Reverse Type 1 Diabetes • Study: Obesity Major Factor in Diabetes Epidemic • Too Much, Too Little Sleep Linked To Diabetes In Men • Procedure Cures Some Diabetic Mice • Ethnicity Skews Diabetes' Effect on Heart • Pig Cells May Be Useful in Diabetes Treatment • Protein Triggers Fat-Saturated Cell Death • FDA Approves Diabetes Inhaler Exubera • FDA Panel Greenlights Diabetes Inhaler • Breastfeeding May Decrease Diabetes Risk • Low-Fat Dairy Products May Lower Diabetes Risk in Men • Scientists Find Diabetes "Switch" • New Diabetes Treatment Approved • Knowledge of Diabetes Doesn't Always Affect Outcomes • Moderate Exercise Helpful to Diabetes-Prone Women • Life Expectancy Increases; Diabetes Epidemic Worsens

There is no cure for diabetes, but for the first time, researchers are hoping that's about to change. In a clinical trial, 13 young diabetes patients have been able to stop taking insulin injections after undergoing a stem cell treatment.

The trial, reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, consisted of treating the patients with drugs to suppress their immune systems, followed by stem cells drawn from their own blood.

The researchers say they are excited about the results, because it suggests that diabetics who need daily insulin injections to survive might soon be freed from that regimen. Of the 15 young trial subjects, all but two responded to the treatment.

"This is a very promising study for those who are suffering from Juvenile Diabetes," said Rep. Dave Weldon (R-FL), who is also a physician.

For years, Type I (Juvenile) diabetes has been known to be an autoimmune disorder where the body's own immune cells attack the insulin producing cell in the pancreas. U.S. researchers, conducting their study in Brazil, used a stem cell transplant protocol that has previously been used with success in treating other autoimmune disorders such as lupus and multiple sclerosis, crohns disease, scleroderma, and rheumatoid arthritis.

"The beauty of the treatment protocol used here is that the patient's own bone marrow stem cells were used, guaranteeing a perfect match," Weldon said. "Should these patients remain insulin-free, the treatment is likely to be particularly useful for those suffering from Juvenile Diabetes who have difficultly in maintaining proper insulin levels, as well as for those who have difficulty accessing appropriate health care," he said.

Stem cells are cells that are not fully developed, and have the flexibility to grow into different types of tissue. Earlier studies have raised hopes that stem cell therapies may one day provide treatments for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other afflictions for which there are currently no cures.

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