Possible Cure for Diabetes type I

The Times, a newpaper in the United Kingdom, is reporting the cure of Type I Diabetes through stem cell transfusions. The study was published today in JAMA (the Journal of the American Medical Association)

Type I Diabetes affects a smaller percentage of individuals than type II diabetes, but it will be a great improvement in the quality of life of anyone with Type I Diabetes if this study holds true for the majority of the population (so far they’ve only tried this on 15 people).

From The Times:

"The results show that insulin-dependent diabetics can be freed from reliance on needles by an injection of their own stem cells...

There are still question marks about exactly how the treatment works, and further studies will be required to fully evaluate it’s safety and efficacy.

'As a research scientist I am always hesitant to speak of a cure, but the initial results have been good and show the importance of conducting more trials,' Dr Burt said...

'It will probably be five to eight years before we see a treatment being widely available,' he said.

In an accompanying editorial in JAMA, Dr Jay Skyler, of the Diabetes Research Institute at the University of Miami, wrote: 'Research in this field is likely to explode in the next few years and should include randomised controlled trials, as well as mechanistic studies.'"