October 4, 2000
Research: Cure
Question from High Prairie, Alberta, Canada:
My seven year old was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was four. I’ve been trying to find out more on islet cell transplants for diabetes. Recently, researchers successfully transplanted insulin producing cells into seven individuals, and apparently, every single one of them was cured. Could he be a candidate for this kind of procedure, or does a person have to be 18? If he can be a candidate, whom do I get a hold of?
Answer:
You will find a great deal of information about the transplant programme on the pages of Children with Diabetes. However, the main message for you is that this is still very much experimental and it will be a long time (years) before children are enrolled in such a programme. This is sensible because there are many risks and dangers that have to be evaluated fully before patients unable to make their own fully informed consent are involved.
KJR
