Type 1 diabetes patients depend on lifelong insulin injection to manage their condition. It is an autoimmune disease that causes the immune system to wrongly detect beta cells, necessary for insulin production, as foreign bodies. Once Type 1 diabetes develops in your body, it progresses and destroys the pancreatic insulin-producing cells.
Could the Newly Devised Therapy Cure diabetes type 1?
Although there have been advances in the past to try and differentiate insulin-producing hormones from embryonic stem cells, functional and mature B cells generation has proven elusive. As a result, scientists have researched and discovered the fate of immature hormones. According to the latest scientific news on type 1 diabetes, the cells are mobile and the environment they are exposed to influences them. It means pancreatic islet cells can be manufactured from stem cells to reverse the disease.
Because immunity is to blame for the destruction of beta islet, researchers are now looking at options in keeping the immune system stable, to cure type 1 diabetes. Studies show that there are replacement therapies that can be used to generate beta cells from stem cells.
Type 1 Diabetes Treatment Technologies
Technologies such as sensors that give accounts of the rise and fluctuation of blood glucose levels and pumps, used to deliver insulin automatically, are intended to boost the regulation of blood sugars and prevent complications. Today, there are also artificial pancreas systems used to deliver the right dose at given times of the day. Although these new models are ethical, effective, and convenient, anyone with type 1 diabetes cannot rely on them for a cure. Could stem therapy be the cure type 1 diabetics need?
New Insight on Diabetes Type 1
The latest focus for researchers working with stem cells is diabetes type 1. Stem cell research, a scientific study has become a crucial part of the understanding of type 1 diabetes. The studies reveal that it is possible to convert stem cells into cells that can produce insulin which could eventually cure diabetes type 1.
Researchers are interested in progenitor cells, which are linked to the stem cells. Unlike stem cells, these do not reproduce indefinitely and tend to mature into a limited range. Because they are always constantly moving, progenitor cells are difficult to study. The goal of the stem therapy research is to find ways of replacing insulin-producing cells in type 1 diabetic patients.
“Self-Condensation Cell Culture” is the process that is used in the first trials to engineer stem cells to cure the disease. Using a patient’s stem cells will be more productive because they are a perfect match, instead of depending on donor cells which could be rejected. Notice that stem cells are versatile and can, therefore, take various forms to be converted into human cells.
Enhancing the Survival of Beta Cells
The insulin-producing cells live in clusters known as islets containing different types of cells that produce hormones. Beta cells make insulin. Stem cell research for diabetes shows that islet transplantation can be a successful alternative to insulin injections. This treatment does not require invasive surgery and would be able to trigger better glucose control and reduces complications common with type 1 diabetes.
Although there is promise with the stem therapy as a form of treatment, derived stem islets tend to have a low survival rate. This is due to the lack of adequate nutrients and oxygen. Researchers are now studying how the shortage of nutrients and oxygen occurs and how the functioning of stem cell-derived beta cells can be improved. Research has shown that beta cells can be trained to survive these shortages before and after the process. Should this new approach be successful, there will be improved clinical options for the replacement of destroyed beta cells.
The current treatments for autoimmune conditions such as diabetes type 1 neutralize the immune cells known to attack the healthy tissue. The problem is; most of these therapies end up destroying cells that are functioning well in the body, leaving you exposed to other ailments. This is mostly a result of immune reactions against foreign cells.
The Revolutionary Stem Therapy in Type 1 Diabetes
2015 figures recorded by CDC- Center for Disease Control and Prevention stated that at least 30 million US citizens had been diagnosed with diabetes that year, while 415 million people are said to suffer from the disease across the globe. Those that required daily insulin treatment were about 5 percent. This number continues to rise.
The standard treatment today for type1 diabetes involves the monitoring of glucose levels and the injection of insulin to maintain healthy blood sugar levels. Despite these measures, patients are still faced with complications such as kidney and nerve problems. Uncontrolled diabetes type 1 can also be potentially fatal. When having Type 1 Diabetes, the pancreas make little or no insulin. Insulin is responsible for allowing blood sugar to get into your cells for energy. Without which will cause blood sugar to build up in the bloodstream.
A study done by the University of Copenhagen shows that new pancreatic cells used to replace islets can benefit diabetes type 1 sufferers. The study shows how the production of insulin could be increased. Should stem therapy continue to bear fruit, it will offer realistic solutions for type 1 diabetics. Pancreas transplant is a solution that can solve the problem, but it does not come with a 100 percent success rate and normally requires medication that suppresses immunity.
The University of Copenhagen published an article on an international journal “Nature Cell Biology” showing how stem cells produce insulin-producing cells that could be used in diabetic patients for a possible reversal of the disease.
With stem therapy still undergoing more research, scientists are drawing closer to treatment that could eventually cure diabetes. Although it is still in its early stages, stem cell therapy could be the biggest hope for diabetics. With the replacement of the missing insulin-producing cells, normal insulin production would be recovered and perhaps be the cure for type 1 diabetes.