In the treatment of type 1 diabetes, groundbreaking stem cell therapy has shown promising results.
In a recent trial, to cure type 1 diabetes, scientists used stem cells from donors to create healthy beta cells and transplanted them into seven diabetic patients.
Three of these patients no longer require daily insulin injections, and three others have seen improved blood sugar control.
This development offers hope for a potential cure for the nearly 220,000 people in Britain living with type 1 diabetes.
The treatment, called VX-880, was developed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals and involves transplanting lab-grown insulin-producing beta cells to restore the body’s ability to produce insulin.
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Notably, one trial patient who had lived with severe type 1 diabetes for 42 years has been insulin-independent for 15 months, and another with a 19-year history of diabetes has been injection-free for six months.
This breakthrough has generated significant excitement in the medical community, with plans for a larger trial at King’s College Hospital in London.
If successful, this therapy could potentially revolutionize the management of type 1 diabetes, offering new hope to patients who currently rely on daily insulin injections.
Additionally, another study presented at a conference highlighted the potential for “opportunistic screening” for diabetes in emergency departments.
Researchers found that testing blood sugar levels in 1388 random patients without a diabetes diagnosis in an emergency department in Tameside, Greater Manchester, revealed that 9% had type 2 diabetes, and 30% had prediabetes.
This suggests that early detection of diabetes in emergency settings could help identify tens of thousands of undiagnosed cases and prevent long-term complications.
