Anyone know anything about this new discovery?

[archimeech]

just read in the Daily Diabetic News about the request for a patent by, Vitro Diagnostics, Inc. They say that they have grown Islet Beta cells in the lab that actually produce insulin. I wonder how long before they will actually move the Islet Transpants from a Clinical Study to an actual Approved Procedure? I have been Diabetic for 20 years and am really starting to feel the symptoms of the disease. Let's all hope and pray that this advance will further the hope of all of us one day being able to recieve some kind of treatment for this horrible affliction. Does anyone here know of anything else that may help move this along or have some kind of idea as to what this might mean for the near future? Sorry, I'm getting a little desparate. I am out of the "ideal" weight for the Clinical trial but only by 30 pounds. I definately cannot lose the weight, because I am all ready underweight. I'm 6'-2" and only 193 lbs. I am supposed to be 196 lbs for an ideal weight and bocy/mass index. so this leaves me out of all the current studies. I am also too healthy to be considered for a whole organ transplant and would never think off taking an organ away from someone who needs it more than I do at the present moment.

[HeatherP]

I see this sort of thing in the news. It all sounds great, but I really think we are quite a few years away from this being proven to cure diabetes and even be available to "the masses". Here in America I suspect the ins co's won't cover it.

I suspect that if you got your sugars under better control you'd probably gain some weight, but I have also seen your posts about having problems with that. If I could shave off a few pounds, I'd be happy to pass them along to you!;)

Back when I read about the "Edmonton Protocal" they only used thinner, slightly built patients because it took several pancreas' to come up with enough islet cells to transplant.

Don't think I've helped, but that's my $.02 worth,
HeatherP

[lgvincent]

I have the same problem. I can eat the same amount of food, take the same amount of insulin, and do the same amount of exercise two days in a row and one day suffer from low blood sugar and the next day high blood sugar. It can drop without warning and can run high with no explanation. I'm afraid I have no idea why it happens or how to avoid it.

[archimeech]

I feel for you as much as I do all of us, but it is comforting to know others have the same problems. thanks Ig.

Heather, I'd take it if I could, my dear. I saw the same things about the Ed. Protoc. They now have the weight requirement down to 170 lbs. so that REALLY leaves me out of it. lol I was that thin 5 years ago, but very underweight and I felt horrible.

[lgvincent]

I posted this in the wrong thread, sorry. I don't know how it happened.

[Littlebit63_99]

archimeech,

Islet cell transplanting is being done at the University of MN. I tried to get into the program......but, approval standards are very tightly controlled. The thing that bumped me was my weight.

[archimeech]

Littlebit,
It's being done in quite a few hospitals right now, however it's still a Clinical Trial. That is why they have such tight controls on entry into the program. I live in Savannah,GA but they are doing TP at Emory Hospital in Atlanta. When I contacted them I was told that I weighted too much, even though I am technicaly 3 lbs under-weightf or my height. What I found interesting about this article was the fact that now there is a glimmer of hope that one of the 2 problems with Islet Transplant can be overcome. That problem is the lack of sufficient Islet Cells for all the Diabetics requiring a Transplant. Although the thought of being on Immunosupressant drugs the rest of my life is scary, I would rather take them and live a longer, healthier life.

[JasonSmithMT]

Originally posted by archimeech
Although the thought of being on Immunosupressant drugs the rest of my life is scary, I would rather take them and live a longer, healthier life.

A longer, healthier life is not proven in Islet cell transplantation. It hasn't been studied in detail yet to show that it decreases mortality and morbidity versus conventional therapy. The fact of having to be immunosupressed for the rest of your life is much more a concern for me than having to take exogenous insulin. In this day and age of treatment resistant infections I would like to keep all the immune system functionality possible. Until they figure out how to regenerate my own Islet cells or prove that transplanted ICs are effective; I look to a closed loop implantable insulin pump to be the closest thing to a cure.

Jason

[archimeech]

While I agree on the issue of immunosupression, and am a realist; I am also very optimistic. I believe, just reducing the damage that erratic blood sugars can do to the body will allow many to live a much healthier life. I am also interested in the regeneration of my own cells or the creation of new cells through stem cell research. The 2 biggest problems with helping the diabetics of the world as I see it are: 1-creating enough of a supply of islets or designing regeneration and 2-immunosuppresion. I believe the growing of Beta cells to be a step in the right direction for completing one of these 2 tasks.


....But, ****! I'll take a closed-loop implantable insulin pump too!

[Shalyndria]

Every new discovery is exciting, IMHO :) . And eliminating each and every impossibility brings us a step closer to the possibility!

Unfortunately, even if they could clone our own islet producing B-cells, immunosuppressants would still have to be used. Type 1 is a result of a chronic immunodeficiency condition, and were our own reproduced B-cells re-introduced to our pancreas (or any viable organ) the immune system would once again see this as a threat and neutralize them. Now, if they could refine immunosuppressants and target only one specific reaction, or even produce a cell that would mimick B-cells and draw the immune system off, now that would be progress.
I'm optimistic that one day not only will we have our closed-loop system (it seems so close even now) but we will also have a cure.

Shy