[magosienne]

i apologise if it may seem a bit technical, but it's really interesting. my best friend and i oftenly talk about the use of stem cells in research. they seem to be the source of many hopes to cure diseases.


Pancreas stem cells for diabetes

A stem cell cure for diabetes is a step closer, scientists have predicted. A team at Toronto University found immature cells in the pancreas of adult mice that were able to develop into cells that produce insulin.
If the same precursor cells are present in humans, it may be possible to cure diabetics who have to take insulin.
The scientists, whose work appears in the journal Nature Biotechnology, plan further studies.
In diabetes, the amount of sugar in the blood is too high because the body cannot use it properly.

Normally, this sugar is broken down in the body by the hormone insulin, which is produced by beta cells in the pancreas.
People with Type 1 diabetes, also known as insulin-dependent diabetes, develop the disease because their beta cells are destroyed.
They have to inject themselves with insulin to control their blood sugar.
The Toronto University scientists believe their laboratory discovery could avoid this by generating new beta cells to cure the insulin deficiency.

Future cure?
Lead researcher Dr Simon Smukler said: "People have been intensely searching for pancreatic stem cells for a while now, and so our discovery of precursor cells within the adult pancreas that are capable of making new pancreatic cells is very exciting."
He now aims to prove that the cells they found in mice are true stem cells - immature cells that can renew themselves and have the potential to become many different types of cell.
He is hopeful this is indeed the case because the immature pancreatic cells were able to develop into cells of the nervous system as well as beta cells.
Professor Anne Cooke, from the Stem Cell Institute at the University of Cambridge, said it was "an encouraging first step" which could hopefully be followed through to the production of stable cell populations secreting insulin in real life conditions.
She said the real test would be whether the cells could restore normal glucose levels in people with diabetes.
Philip Casey, care adviser at Diabetes UK said the results were "extremely interesting".
"The prospect of finding a way to produce islets cells to cure Type 1 diabetes is the Holy Grail of diabetes research," he said.
"Although there is still much to be understood about the role of stem cells in human diabetes mellitus, these results are promising.
"Diabetes UK looks forward to seeing the results of this study being advanced from work on mice to humans."


Source

[KellyB]

Thanks for sharing. That would be encouraging news for the millions of diabetics for sure.

[Lia]

Thanks for sharing!

[miracle]

Thanks for sharing. Perhaps I will be diabet patient. My grandfather was diabet patient and My blood sugar levels are irreqular.

[blueangel1023]

Thanks for the post. This is definitely interesting since I come from a family of diabetics (my grandma, uncle, and my dad) hence I need to cut down on the sweet stuff >_<

[Sheikah]

That's great! Thanks for posting.

[S. Lisa Smith]

Great article!

[magosienne]

Thanks for sharing. Perhaps I will be diabet patient. My grandfather was diabet patient and My blood sugar levels are irreqular.

ouch ! i hope not, be sure to consult a doc.
one of my friends just told me he comes from a diabetic family and it's most likely he'll be diabetic one day. sad to hear.

[AngelaGM]

That is really interesting.

[miracle]

ouch ! i hope not, be sure to consult a doc.
one of my friends just told me he comes from a diabetic family and it's most likely he'll be diabetic one day. sad to hear.

Thank you for your interest.

[magosienne]

i feel the need to vent a bit here. i learned the french Health minister (clumsiness or does she really believes in her crap ?) has recently tried to compare illnesses figuring on a "long term illnesses" list (100% refund by the social security. money rules everywhere ). the problem is she despised diabetes (like it's not as important as cancer or AIDS). an association of diabetics has issued an answer to that, because obviously our minister doesn't know what's she's talking about. she tries to reduce the social security deficit but she does it the wrong way. grrr. you can't compare or despise such different illnesses, just because the costs are different.

[chikalaou]

That was very interesting!
I'm very interesting in diabetes breakthrough and news because my boyfriend was unexpectedly diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at 22 years old (3 years ago). He was really depressed at the beginning, since he had always been proud/happy of his good health/genes, and now he has to inject himself with insulin 4 times a day and all the hassle that comes with it. So when I read this kind of info, I pass it on to him and it cheers him up!

I agree that diabetes gets a lot of bad press, most of it unjustified. Also, usually type 1 and type 2 are put in the same boat of being diseases for "bad", "fat" people who eat too much sugar! (You wouldn't believe the stupid things my boyfriend hears). It's becoming almost like it's entirely up to a person's will to have diabetes. For type 2 there's a lifestyle factor, but there's also the genes that play a big role in developing the illness. Anyways, I could go on about this topic, but merci magosienne for this thread!