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Living donor diabetes transplant
Living donor diabetes transplant -- Posted by Tina P on 02-06-05 00:37
Doctors have successfully transplanted insulin-producing cells from a mother
to her diabetic daughter.
A team at Japan's Kyoto University Hospital removed islet cells from the
healthy woman, and transplanted them into her 27-year-old daughter.
The breakthrough could be a much more effective way to treat type 1
diabetes.
Islet cells have previously been taken from dead organ donors and were often
damaged from cold storage or by toxins in the blood after death.
The cells, found in the pancreas, produce a hormone called insulin which
regulates sugar levels in the blood.
Type 1 diabetes - also known as insulin-dependent or immune-mediated
diabetes - destroys these cells, and thus the body's ability to produce
insulin.
People with the condition must regularly boost insulin levels, either by
injection or by wearing a pump which dispenses the hormone under the skin.
If their insulin is not taken they can lapse into a coma and die.
And if the hormone level is not properly controlled it can lead to
complications such as blindness.
Transplant surgery can potentially solve the problem by providing patients
with a fresh supply of insulin-producing islet cells.
Dr James Shapiro, of the University of Alberta, was one of the surgeons who
led the Kyoto team.
He said the islet cells began to produce insulin minutes after being
transplanted into the daughter.
Previously, she had experienced low blood sugar coma attacks, but following
surgery her blood sugar control has been transformed.
Undamaged cells
Dr Shapiro said previous islet cells from brain dead donors were often
severely damaged.
"Our expectation is that these islets from near-perfect organs will work
better, although it's too early to tell.
"Living donor islet transplants could allow many more desperate patients
with type 1 diabetes to get successful islet transplants.
"The donor operation is relatively safe, but is not entirely devoid of
serious potential risk."
Jo Brodie, of the charity Diabetes UK, said: "The success of this
groundbreaking operation is very exciting news for us.
"This could lead to many more people with Type 1 diabetes receiving islet
cell transplants from living donors.
"It is also another step forward in finding a cure for diabetes. This is the
first operation of its kind so we will be following the progress of the
patient and any future operations very closely."
Re: Living donor diabetes transplant -- Posted by Nico Kadel-Garcia on 02-06-05 01:32
"Tina P" wrote in message
news:fHkNd.1621$mG6.301@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> Doctors have successfully transplanted insulin-producing cells from a
> mother to her diabetic daughter.
> A team at Japan's Kyoto University Hospital removed islet cells from the
> healthy woman, and transplanted them into her 27-year-old daughter.
>
> The breakthrough could be a much more effective way to treat type 1
> diabetes.
Oh, please. This kind of transplant has been going on for decades in
research, and there are several major problems.
#1. There aren't enough living donors.
#2. The immune suppression drugs are both dangerous and can interfere with
insulin productoin, although the Edmonton protocols supposedly help reduce
the risk and impact of this.
#3: In Type 1 diabetics, there seems to be an ongoing destructive process
that *continues* to destroy the insulin producing cells, so you'd have to
re-implant every six months or so.
As the article cells.
> Type 1 diabetes - also known as insulin-dependent or immune-mediated
> diabetes - destroys these cells, and thus the body's ability to produce
> insulin.
> Transplant surgery can potentially solve the problem by providing patients
> with a fresh supply of insulin-producing islet cells.
Like replacing the oil in a car that a hole in oil pan, it's going to
eventually re-destroy the cells.
Moreover, while I'm a Type 1 myself and appreciate research, most diabetics
are Type 2 and are resistant to insulin, so it's hardly a general cure.
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