Human embryonic stem cell breakthrough brings hope for diabetes cure


		Human embryonic stem cell breakthrough brings hope for diabetes cure (Top Posts - Social/Legal - 052607) - - - May 27, 2007 Sydney Morning Herald http://tinyurl.com/yu89wz - - - Complete article: HUMAN embryonic stem cells can be transformed into pancreatic cells that produce insulin, offering the potential to cure diabetes, researchers say. The finding, published in the journal Stem Cells, has been hailed as a significant step forward in the quest to improve the lives of millions of the world's insulin-dependent diabetics, especially children. Discovering how to replace the insulin-produc- ing cells of the pancreas, or islets, which are destroyed by the body's own immune system, has long been a focus for scientists studying the disease. Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Aus- tralia chief executive Mike Wilson said it was the first time artificially created islets had shown the ability to respond to the amount of glucose they were exposed to, just as in the bodies of healthy people. People with diabetes cannot produce insulin in response to glucose, which leads to heigh- tened blood sugar levels and complications such as excessive thirst, kidney damage, car- diovascular disease and fatigue. Mr Wilson said while the research at US bio- pharmaceutical company Geron Corporation and the University of Alberta, Canada, was still only in the laboratory stage, it held great promise for a future cure. "This step has never been reached before," he said. Islet cells donated from the pancreases of cadavers have been able to reduce patients' dependence on insulin injections, but there is an extreme shortage of donors, forcing scientists to look at other sources. Stem cells are "blank" cells that have the ability to grow into any other type of cell, such as the insulin-producing islets. These islets could then be transplanted into someone with Type 1 diabetes and poten- tially cure the disease. Type 1, also known as juvenile diabetes, is one of the most common serious childhood diseases and affects about one in every 700 Australian children. Current treatment includes constant monitor- ing of blood sugar levels and diet and lifestyle changes, as well as daily insulin injections. Rose Bay parents Greg and Kristen Mason are hopeful that a cure for Type 1 diabetes will be found soon. Their five-year-old daughter Taylor was diag- nosed with the disease aged 10 months, and she needs five to six insulin injections every day. She has a strictly controlled diet and activity schedule and her blood sugar is mon- itored up to 10 times daily. "Every day we are one step closer to finding a cure so that Taylor can live a normal life," Mr Mason said. Source: The Sun-Herald - - - end of article - - - In response to a poster who replied: > Don't get me wrong: I'm Type 1, > and so is my child (darn it!). But I'm > tired of "exciting" press releases that > raise hopes that are unlikely to work > better than the last 3 decades of > work in the field. Well, understood, your frustration and dis- appointment in the fact that a long-hoped- for cure is not yet here. I, too, am very disappointed it has taken so long, having been type 1 for 46 years, since age 5. As for hope, futile or not, some still have it, regarding a cure. I do, simply based on the fact that as our knowledge of the natural world increases, our likelihood of solving natural problems likewise increases, and based on the belief that some day, some way, a viable solution, ideally a cure, for the type 1 diabetes challenges will be found. Here's a recent article with some hope on another front: - - - May 28, 2007 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070527140321.htm - - - Excerpts: Immunization Against Type 1 Diabetes: Mice Successfully Treated Science Daily — Researchers in France and Germany have successfully treated type 1 diabetic mice with a vaccination. The vaccine they designed in this model included structures that the immune sys- tem mistakenly attacks in type 1 diabetes. The researchers showed that, in principle, it is possible to treat autoimmune diseases (diseases, in which the immune system attacks the own body) by inducing “active tolerance”. That means activating the im- mune system so that it no longer attacks the body’s own structures, but instead protects them from the immune attack. Autoimmune diseases develop when the immune system can no longer distinguish between “non-self” and “self” and attacks the body’s own structures as is the case in type 1 diabetes. In this severe meta- bolic disorder, misguided T cells of the immune system destroy the cells of the pancreas that produce insulin, a hormone essential for life. ... “Suppressing undesired immune reactions through specific immunizations with the body’s own antigens will open up a funda- mental new approach to treatment.” The immunologist is convinced that it will be possible to treat not only type 1 diabetes but also other autoimmune diseases – both as prevention of the disease as well as ther- apy after disease onset. ... - - - end excerpts - - -