April 6, 2004
Research: Cure
Question from Downey, California, USA:
If I understand the “honeymoon” period correctly, my recently diagnosed 10-year old daughter still has some, approximately 10 percent, if you consider the information that by the time of diagnosis that 90 percent have already been destroyed, of her own insulin-producing beta cells. I have also read where they are researching ways to prolong this period. Is there any benefit to “extracting” some of these remaining beta cells to keep until such time that they can be reproduced in a laboratory and then replaced? Would this ever be feasible?
Answer:
This is an interesting theoretical question, but very difficult from a practical standpoint since it is likely the body would simply destroy these cells because type 1 diabetes is still an autoimmune disorder. Also, it is difficult to get to the pancreas without a major abdominal operation. Many research teams are diligently working on this problem so we may get an answer.
SB
