January 7, 2007
Research: Cure
Question from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada:
I know enough not to get too excited about the latest “cure,” but this new study in Cell (TRPV1+ Sensory Neurons Control � Cell Stress and Islet Inflammation in Autoimmune Diabetes) sounds kind of hopeful. Do you think it will have any implications for people who have had diabetes for a while or does it only have potential for the recently diagnosed? I understood that islet cells were destroyed, not just inflamed, in type 1. Are there any islet cells left after someone has had diabetes for years?
Answer:
It is just too soon to know the answer to your question. There is some new research information that suggest it may never be too late to get stem cells or remnant islet cells to become functioning beta cells. The trick always remains to get just these cells to this point and not be subject to attack by the original inflammatory process itself.
SB
