Stem cells treat type 1 diabetics

Stem cells help overcome the need for insulin in type 1 diabetics, enabling them to live for as long as four years without injections. According to a study published in JAMA, diabetic patients will be able to produce their own insulin after the transplantation of stem cells extracted from their own bone marrow. These patients would also need less insulin after later relapses. The new technique is reported to lower the need fro insulin through preventing the immune system from destroying the patients' insulin-making cells, a common process contributing to the disease. It improves the patient's glycemic control while increasing C-peptide levels, an indirect measure of beta-cell, insulin-making cell, function. The technique is believed only to be effective in patients recently diagnosed with the condition. Scientists are optimistic that their findings will overcome the challenges faced by the global diabetes epidemic in the near future.