In a world first, scientists in China have managed to treat type 1 diabetes using a stem cell transplant on a 25-year-old woman. The patient was suffering from a chronic condition for over 10 years.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that destroys insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells. Patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) require life-long insulin replacement, via daily insulin shots or insulin pump therapy.
Doctors recommend patients manage their disease with physical exercise, food control (smaller portions), and insulin injections. China has recorded over 140 million patients with T1D, who cannot produce enough insulin to regulate their blood sugar.
A team of scientists turned around her condition through a minimally invasive surgery which took just half an hour. She is the first T1D patient in the world to be treated using cells extracted from her own body.
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Completely Reversed Diabetes
James Shapiro, a transplant surgeon and researcher at the University of Alberta in Edmonton Canada, said the scientists completely reversed diabetes in the patient who required substantial amounts of insulin beforehand.
This comes after researchers successfully transplanted insulin-producing islets into the liver of a 59-year-old man with type 2 diabetes in April. The islets were retrieved from reprogrammed stem cells taken from the patient’s own body. He doesn’t need insulin anymore.
Researchers say islet transplants can treat diabetes, but the main challenge is that there aren’t enough donors to meet the demand. Moreover, recipients must use immune-supporting drugs to prevent their bodies from rejecting the donor tissue. Researchers hope to overcome immunosuppressants by using tissue made from a person’s cells.
