My relative was diagnosed with insulin dependent diabetes. The doctor has said he has to take insulin for the rest of his life. Is that so, or is there another medical procedure to relieve this life long medication?

If your relative is indeed still a child and was insulin dependant at the time of diagnosis then he/she almost certainly has Type1A or Autoimmune Diabetes which at the present time requires lifetime supplementation with insulin and can be distinguished by a positive ‘antibody’ test. There is a possibility that some form of transplantation may become more widely available in the future without a constant need for immunosuppressive drugs. There is also a small chance that this child may have another much less common form of diabetes such as Type 1B or even Type II which could be managed, at least for a time, without insulin.

DOB