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Biotech Science

First Successful Cell Transplant Cures Diabetes 271

Posted by timothy from the place-your-nobel-prize-bets dept.
Iphtashu Fitz writes "A few months ago the 50th anniversary of the first organ transplant was celebrated. Over those 50 years surgeons have learned how to sucessfully transplant many organs and other body parts. Now it seems that Japanese surgeons have added yet another successful transplant to the list, having recently transplanted insulin-generating cells, known as Islets of Langerhans from a mother to her diabetic daughter. Three months after the surgery both mother and daughter appear to be completely healthy. Although the daughter no longer needs insulin she still needs to take powerful drugs to keep her immune system from rejecting the new cells. Researchers also still don't know if this procedure would work in many people with type 1 diabetes since in many of those cases their own immune system has destroyed their Islet cells."
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First Successful Cell Transplant Cures Diabetes More

First Successful Cell Transplant Cures Diabetes

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  • Japanese to cure diabetes (Score:3, Funny)

    by Nadsat ( 652200 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @03:19AM (#12290259) Homepage
    What will China say about that?

    • Re:Japanese to cure diabetes (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      In technologic Japan, Cell kills you!

    • Re:Japanese to cure diabetes (Score:5, Funny)

      by strider44 ( 650833 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @03:32AM (#12290323)
      Probably (arigatoo gozaimasu).

      I'd be the same. If, say, a group of scientists from New Zealand cured a life-dehabilitating desease I had then I'd quite graciously say "Thanks, Mate. May all your girlfriends bear fine wool".

      (ahem, sorry for any easily offended new zealanders out there)
      • Sweet as, mate. If a bunch of your scientists made a cure for something I would thank them too. Though I doubt that'd happen, since you Aussies are busy feeding babies to dingos, right? : ) (Seriously, though, as long as there's no sport involved, you blokes across the ditch are bloody great)
    • Domo arigatto Mr. Transplanto?

      -m
    • They are up in arms over a bunch of islets already. This is just more insulin on the fire... ;-)

  • Future of treatment? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Bananatree3 ( 872975 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @03:19AM (#12290262)
    With the advent of this new treatment, maybe thousands of diabetics could have the ability to live insulin-injection free. Yes, they do have to take anti-rejection drugs, but it is no different then taking the drugs for an organ transplant. Even if this is only a prelude to a new, more permenent treatment, the possibilities of this doing good with this new treatment is huge.

    • Unfortunately, the future is the past in this case (Score:5, Informative)

      by CarpetShark ( 865376 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @03:48AM (#12290368)

      This isn't new, unfortunately. Islet cell transplants have been happening for many years now. The first cases I heard of were in Russia, using islet cells from aborted foetuses (I gather such things are more readily available in Russia). But they've been doing it on a small scale in the UK for years, too, with success.

      I'm not sure why we haven't seen this become a mainstream solution yet, but personally, I'm not holding my breath for any of the diabetes solutions that get mentioned by news reporters regularly. News services seem to like to this story so much that they declare a new "cure" each year... except that it'll be years before most people get it, if they get it.

    • Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @04:19AM (#12290458)
      Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • Well, I don't know about predictable... Too much insulin and they can go into diabetic coma and die, too little and they can get organ damage and have a heart attack or need their feet amputated.

        • Re:Future of treatment? (Score:5, Informative)

          by Bitsy Boffin ( 110334 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @07:30AM (#12290991) Homepage
          Diabetics learn very quickly how much insulin they require and to adjust it as they see fit.

          On the insulin side, we have a wide range of available, from very rapid acting ( taking effect within 10 minutes to provide "bolus" (peak) insulin for when you eat) to very long acting (lasting up to 24 hours to provide "basal" (background) insulin). Using different insulins diabetics can get a remarkably precise control with little effort.

          As for hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) leading to diabetic coma, this is easily avoided by any diabetic with even "rough" control due to the fact that they will readily feel blood sugar levels dropping far in advance of danger and a quick ingestion of some sweet substance will solve the problem in a matter of a couple of minutes - actually, it's quite remarkable how quickly the sugar is absorbed and works it's magic.

          It's not hard these days to keep your diabetes in fair control, and within or close to the "normal" range that will keep problems later in life at bay. Diabetes is in essence a very treatable and predicatble ailment once detected.

          Detecting it in the first place is probably the biggest problem these days - so many people don't recognize the symptoms...

          a) Excessive thirst and urination - this is the biggie, classic and very telling symptom. Your body is working hard trying to flush itself, but it can't keep up.
          b) Tiredness - the higher your BG gets, the more tired you get
          c) Weight loss, dehydration.
          d) Sweet fruity smell on the breath - your body is having to break down fats to get at sugars and as a result it's producing some pretty nasty by products - your getting keto acidosis. At this point you are extremely ill and must get to a doctor very quickly. I mean VERY quickly... if you delay then you may fall into a coma, your brain will swell, and rather soon, you will die.

          People often leave it much to late, not getting diagnosed until they are in a state of acidosis - I know, I did - almost too late, but once diagnosed, a couple of days in a hospital and some home visits by a diabetes nurse educator I was fine - 10 years later I'm still fine, and I expect to still be fine for another 40 to 50 years at least.

          • I'm not diabetic, but I do get hypoglycemic (low blood glucose) quite easily. Sugar does act very quickly in those circumstances, but then the danger becomes dehydration (which, BTW, can cause hypoglycemia ... see the pattern?).
          • He lived alone, got sick and was bedridden. Because of this his blood-sugar levels went haywire, and he died from diabetes. Yes, he know all about the levels of insulin etc he needed to take, but sometimes circumstance renders you unable to take it.

            As for the rejection medicine... I'd assume that if you missed that then you would more likely reject the organ, and then be back to square 1. But square 1 is better than dead.

          • I agree with you that diabetics learn very quickly how much insulin they need.

            Really, sometimes they can feel their blood sugar level without need to test it. But in some cases, they can suffer extreme blood sugar levels because of stress, anxiety or nervousness generated by problems or the like. In these cases is when diabetes could be a very dangerous illness.

      • Re:Future of treatment? (Score:5, Informative)

        by Pete ( 2228 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @05:57AM (#12290714)
        I assume diabetics just need to take shots.

        (talking purely about type I diabetes [wikipedia.org] here)

        Yeah, you're exactly correct except for the "just" word ;-). Speaking as a type I diabetic, with a type I brother and a type II stepfather and a type II stepbrother - keeping control of the blood sugar levels can be a bitch. Regardless of whether you're injecting insulin or not.

        I wouldn't consider a "treatment" involving immunosuppressant drugs unless my blood sugar levels were really severely out of control (and I'd tried a variety of alternatives). Anti-rejection drugs suck.

        I was much more excited about the Glucowatch [glucowatch.com] product (nice asynchronous, albeit approximate, blood sugar monitoring tool), but I first heard about it a couple of years ago and still haven't seen any sign of them being available in Australia. Motherfuckers.

        In fact, the Glucowatch website doesn't seem to have been updated in about a year. Hmmm. I wonder what's happening with them. I hope they get their shit together at some time, as the Glucowatch could be a really really useful tool.

        • From previous posts at alt.support.diabetes.uk, I gather that the readings the watch gave were a bit hit and miss according to skin contact and sweat levels, plus you still had to take a regular blood sample to calibrate it. There's been talk recently of a new BG monitoring technique involving infra-red light (I think). The group's worth a lurk.

        • Re:Future of treatment? (Score:5, Interesting)

          by Anonym0us Cow Herd ( 231084 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @09:55AM (#12291900)
          I'm not diabetic, but have a type 1 child.

          At first we were really excited about the GlucoWatch until we looked more deeply into it. It was pretty disappointing. Supplies for it are very expensive. By contrast, insulin pump therapy supplies are inexpensive. (All of the various brands of pumps we looked at ranged between $5,500 and $6,000.) I was also not real impressed by the accuracy of the GlucoWatch.

          Pump therapy is good and getting better. Our hospital has told us that within the year that the MiniMed [minimed.com] pump (Medtronics) will have an upgrade that can monitor BG levels and alert you if they are falling (or rising). They are supposed to already be in clinical trials.

          The pump trainer (employed by the hospital) also said that in a generation or so of pump, they expect to have a closed loop system where the pump will adjust your insulin dose without user interaction for rising BG, and alert you for falling BG.

          Even the current generation pumps (which we have in hand, but have not yet installed batteries nor had the 24 hour hospital stay to begin using) have a radio link between the glucometer and the pump. If you are taking BG readings frequently enough, the pump always knows your BG levels and can automatically suggest a bolus.

          We were very impressed by the sophistication of the current pumps. The fact that MiniMed often has a $200 yearly upgrade was a major selling point for their particular brand.

          Pumps are supposedly bullet proof (and water proof), but I wouldn't want to test this.

      • Re:Future of treatment? (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Jjeff1 ( 636051 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @08:15AM (#12291161)
        The idea that a diabetic just takes shots is not true at all. My brother has type 1, he was initially misdiagnosed and he almost died. The shots are intended to counteract the sugar in the food you eat. Now if you should mess up somehow, and it does happen, you could be in trouble. Low blood sugar, possibly caused by too much insulin, can cause a sudden diabetic coma and a trip to the hospital. Additionally, your blood sugar is affected by your mood and sometimes by nothing at all. I've heard that teenage guys can suddenly have their blood sugar go nuts when a pretty girl walks by. Some diabetics can tell when their blood sugar feels off and begin treating themselves, but some cannot. Also, when a diabetic has very high or low blood sugar, it affects their brain and their ability to think clearly. In school, all his teachers knew that if he should feel funny, they had to send another student to escort him to the nurse; otherwise he could literally get lost along the way.

        In any case, many diabetics do not monitor themselves properly. They allow their blood sugar to consistently run too high, which in the long term can cause kidney failure, foot amputation, blindness and a host of other problems. Even diabetics that do monitor their blood sugar properly risk these things.

        My brother has had a much easier time since he switched from injections to an insulin pump. He still has to do the tests, but when you're out in public, a finger prick test can be done fairly privatly, while injected yourself in the stomach cannot. With the pump, he hits some buttons on it and he's done.

        I'm not sure that the rejection pills would be better, since I don't really know much about them. But I do know that diabetes is not at all the "I just take a shot" most people think it is.
      • Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • Re:Future of treatment? (Score:5, Insightful)

        by krgallagher ( 743575 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @08:51AM (#12291357) Homepage
        " FYI, I'm not diabetic. However, trading one method of maintainin health for another doesn't sound such a good idea."

        FYI, I am diabetic. Trading regular doses of a anti-rejection drugs for the constant maintenance of my blood sugar all day every day is a trade I would happily make. I realize that you are not diabetic and cannot really understand what it is like. Diabetes is not a diseas that you "treat" with periodic injections of insulin. Because your body cannot regulate your blood sugar you have to do it yourself with both diet and medication, all day, every day. The consequences of failure can be fatal. Even if you do a good job, diabetes will almost certainly reduce your lifespan by more than 10 years. The consequences of failure also include blindness, kidney failure, the loss of limbs and heart disease. Yes, it is a trade I would make.

  • The BBC article from Tuesdeay (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @03:19AM (#12290263)
    Here's the BBC article referenced by the post:

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4459523.stm

    And, here's a related one from last month:
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4332163. stm
    Thought it has the same conclusion

  • Awesome, but. . . . (Score:4, Insightful)

    by physicsphairy ( 720718 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @03:20AM (#12290265)
    Personally, I think I would probably prefer taking insulin to a number of immuno-depressing drugs.

    Still valuable research, no doubt.

    • Re:Awesome, but. . . . (Score:5, Interesting)

      by fizze ( 610734 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @03:25AM (#12290297)
      well, I know people who have diabetes, as well as people who had (multiple) organ transplants.

      Taking those tough medication after organ transplants does not exactly cheer one up, but the dose gets reduced, over time. Eventuelly you can live without the medication.
      For diabetes, that isn't the case, afaik.
      • I have been taking immuno suppressents for 4 years. Its no big deal. It doesn't mess up your immune system the way people think it does. I'd much rather take these than insulin. When I had my kidney transplant the guy in the hospital bed beside me had a kidney and pancreas transplant. Which not only cured his kidney problems but his diabetes as well. He didn't have the same type of diabetes as this girl, I hasten to add. If I was to ask him I'm sure he'd tell you he'd rather be taking the immuno suppressen
        • I'd much rather take these than insulin.

          Taking insulin is no problem really, and it's only really new diabetics who worry about thier blood glucose too much. It only takes a few months before you just "know" what your BG is doing, and almost automatically adjust to suit, constant BG testing is not something that the majority of diabetics do for long.

          I've been Type 1 for 10 years now, most of the time I don't even conciously know how much insulin I take - it just comes down to dialling (with a pen inject
      • Taking those tough medication after organ transplants does not exactly cheer one up, but the dose gets reduced, over time. Eventuelly you can live without the medication.

        My mother had a kidney transplant and has been on anti-rejection drugs for the last ten years or so. I beg to differ with your comment. Yes, the dosage has dropped some, but she's also had to switch medications, deal with all kinds of side effects (osteoporosis and hair loss due to the steroids you take to suppress the immune system, for

      • Not in my experience (Score:5, Interesting)

        by The Tyro ( 247333 ) * on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @06:20AM (#12290771)
        The cocktail of immuno-suppressive drugs (in some form or another) is something you pretty much take for life after an organ transplant.

        I am a physician, and I've never heard of people being completely weaned from drugs. If they were, they would run the risk of their immune system reasserting itself big and ugly, possibly resulting in an episode of acute rejection (which is no joke). I can see them trying to taper the dose down a bit, but immunosuppressive therapy remains the standard of care.

        If this is something new, I'd love to see it happen, because those drugs are very problematic for patients. They not only leave you susceptible to common infections, but they also increase your risk for cancers.

        Never underestimate how many potential cancers your immune system finds and kills early. You should see some of the post-transplant patients who have spent time in the sun... they grow skin cancers like it's their job.

        • I am also a physician, and there actually are quite a few cases in the literature of people who have stopped taking their immunosuppressives and not rejected their organs. It's not well-understood and there is no way to predict who can do this successfully, but it has happened. Also, the NIH sponspored Immune Tolerance Network has several clinical trials in the pipeline to prospectively test withdrawal of immunosuppressants (very possibly in islet transplant recipients, as it would not be a disaster if they
          • "Doctor Beavis?" heh heh heh mm heh...

            I'm sure there is some anecdotal evidence that withdrawing immunosuppressives can be done, just as there are people seemingly immune to HIV... human genetic variation makes almost anything possible. People transplanting without drugs is interesting, but I don't know how feasible it is for large numbers of patients.

            I also wonder how they'd test that on enough people. As scarce as transplanted organs are, it almost seems foolhardy to do this on a large scale, at leas
            • The trials that I have heard of will be small pilot trials. One of the main components of these 'tolerance' trials is that there is a concerted effort to try to prospectively identify biomarkers that may be predictive of when people may no longer need immunosuppressives (or immunotherapeutics as not all medications used in transplantation are truly 'suppressive'). Only if the pilot trials suggest that there may be something will it be moved to larger, more definitive trials. Also, the trials will probably i
    • Personally, I think I would probably prefer taking insulin to a number of immuno-depressing drugs.

      The article said that in type 1 diabities, it is the immune system that attacks the pancreas. The cause of the disease is not the lack of insulin, it is the immune system destroying the pancreas.

      I would agree with the basic premise. Supressing the immune system probably comes with many more problems. Those people don't want to get sick, they probably have to be more careful about being exposed to germs.

    • Re:Awesome, but. . . . (Score:2, Interesting)

      by garvald ( 547907 )
      yes, i can only concur. As someone who has 'suffered' from diabetes for 13 years (i'm now 29) i'd say i'm in pretty good health. I drink and eat whatever i want, but i use a swiss-trained therapy called FIT: Functional Insulin Therapy. This system allows me to live a reasonably normal life. The dangers are still there however and it's still a 24h vigil, but i much prefer this to combatting my immune system with drugs and subjecting myself and mother to a potentially dangerous operation. However, i praise an

  • First implemented in Canada (Score:5, Informative)

    by Quirk ( 36086 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @03:20AM (#12290266) Homepage Journal
    This procedure was, I believe, developed and first performed in Canada. The idea [diabetes.ca] has been around for a few years.

    • Re:First implemented in Canada (Score:5, Insightful)

      by qewl ( 671495 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @04:33AM (#12290490)
      Not only has the idea been around, but it has actually been performed multiple times. This was the just the first islet transplant from a [keyword]living[/keyword] donor. While still a great scientific event, the poster has misled and over-hyped this story.

      Read more [chicagotribune.com]

      The Japanese case is the first to be performed successfully using cells from a living donor. Previous cases involved donors who had died or who used their own reprocessed cells, which are injected back into their body.

  • Will the life quality be better or worse? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by ladybugfi ( 110420 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @03:20AM (#12290272)
    So the woman is not taking insulin anymore, but she is taking immuno-suppressants.

    This means she has switched from one type of life-long medication to another type of life-long medication. Is this really a change for the better?

    • Re:Will the life quality be better or worse? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by kshotswell ( 873805 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @03:33AM (#12290328) Homepage
      As a Type 1 diabetic for the last two years I can say that I would gladly take 500 pills a day if it meant that I could get away from the needle. With Blood glucose ranges from 34 to 634 it makes life a pain, To low and you pass out to high and your destroying your kidneys. Life sucks when you have to stop in the middle of mowing the lawn to drink a big glass of OJ to keep your BG from going through the floor. !!! I'm all for it and the reasearch that is taking place!!! Give me the pills, and anybody got a pancreas that they dont need? :)

      • Re:Will the life quality be better or worse? (Score:2, Interesting)

        by Anonymous Coward
        i second that. i've been type 1 for about 2 1/2 years now, and man does it suck having to take shots all the time. i've had two incedents now where i've blacked out from low sugar and all i remember is bits a pieces of waking up and yelling at people like i was some kind of freak, then passing back out. luckly i was near people that knew what to do both times (well once they just called 911). living with diabeties is horred. as soon as i read this article i sent an email to my mother with a link. hopefully
        • You, and the parent both need to go see your endo. Really, you have some pretty lack lustre control going on there.

          In 10 years I have *never* blacked out due to hypoglycemia, nor have I ever needed help to recover, if I did, then that would be a big wakeup call to get things back on track. And my control over the last 10 years is nothing to write home about.

          I'd be interested to know what sort of insulin regime you are both on, and what lifestyles you have.

          I have a very irregular lifestyle, I work for m
          • Anyone care to point out to me the difference between FIT and Intensive Conventional Therapy (ICT)? I'm on the latter. It also uses basis and bolus doses, usually scheduled four times a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a basis shot for the night). I have a rather irregular lifestyle myself, so ICT is flexible enough. The problem, rather, is that the body's insulin requirements change throughout the day, and more so when you don't have a very regular daily rhythm of getting up, going to bed and eating
      • I think I prefer Orange Juice to pills, you wacky kids these days with your pills and electronic music.
      • I have two friends who are diabetic. Neither of them talk about their conditions much and I don't like to ask unless they started the subject.

        Both have talked about shortened lifespans and infertility in the past. Would this new treatment help in these areas?

    • Re:Will the life quality be better or worse? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Digital Pizza ( 855175 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @03:36AM (#12290331)
      A friend of mine is the recipient of a transplanted kidney and pancreas (I think he's one of the first to get that combination). It cured his diabetes and kidney failure, but he obviously has to take the usual recipient's cocktail of drugs, and it's no picnic.

      The immunosupressants means that he has to go to the hospital any time he gets a bad cold, infections are a constant problem and fear, and the prednisone (anti-inflammatory steroid that all recipients have to take alongside the immunosupressants for the rest of their lives) causes bloat, loss of muscle mass, sleeplessness, and the "shakes". That's just part of the story.

      In his case the choice was clear: dialysis sucks bigtime. But if it was me and the choice was insulin vs. the drugs transplant recipients have to take, I'd stick with the insulin, no contest.

      It all comes down to a personal decision, but her choice is not the one I would have made; I wonder if she really knew what she was in for? I certainly wish her luck. At least in her case rejection probably just means that she'll have to go back to the insulin.

    • I think the best advancement in quality of life will be when when we have truly effective automated insulin pumps.

      I'm not an expert in the field, but AFAIK you can have infusion pumps implanted under your skin which continuously administrate the drug. Such pumps do not have effective feedback systems, yet, so a patient has both to "adjust" to his/her pump (i.e. take in appropriate amounts of sugar) and to supplement it with injections.

      In the very near future, I imagine there will be servo pumps that will

  • Stem cells. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @03:22AM (#12290280)
    So, if implanted Islets can be used to replace insulin producing cells, then ones grown from the patients own stem cells can too. And without rejection.

    • Re:Stem cells. (Score:3, Insightful)

      by barbazoo ( 604828 )
      They will be rejected too, since most diabetes type 1 patients' immune system are programmed to destroy insulin producing cells.

  • Several months ago (Score:5, Informative)

    by multiplexo ( 27356 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @03:23AM (#12290283) Journal
    on /. an item was posted about a potential treatment for Type 1 diabetes that removes the auto-immune cells that attack the Islets of Langerhans. These cells are then regenerated from stem cells produced in the spleen. Lee Iacocca is trying to raise money for this research. More information can be found at www.joinleenow.org [joinleenow.org]. If this works in humans and can be perfected it would have a big advantage over transplants as no immunosuppressive drugs would be needed. Ironically enough the doctor who discovered this effect in mice found it while suppressing their immune systems to prepare them for islet cell transplants.

  • What is next? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by John Seminal ( 698722 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @03:28AM (#12290304) Journal
    The procedure was effective using less than half the mother's pancreas.

    Is the pancreas like the liver, that if you take part out of a living human, transplant it in another person, both livers will grow back to their normal size. Will that happen with a pancreas, or is the mother stuck with 50% of her pancreas.

    Nor is it clear whether the procedure would be as effective in people, like most of those with type 1 diabetes, whose own immune cells have destroyed their insulin-producing pancreatic cells.

    How does this happen? Is this a problem with the immune system, or is it a problem with the pancreas?

    If the immune system is responsible for the damage to the pancreas, then transplants won't work. We need to find out the cause.

    If the problem is with the pancreas, I think a far more effective treatment will be genetic therapy. Since genes control how much of a protien or enzyme is made, if the gene is damaged due to mutation or any reason, that tissue might not function normally. If we can advance gene therapy, we can replace the malfunctioning DNA with working DNA.

    I was told in high school health class that diabities is almost 100% due to diet or lack of exersize. I am glad to see we are getting better reasons than "he's fat and does not exersize, so that is why he got sick".

    • Re:What is next? (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      1. the pancreas does not grow back like the liver. I assume its possible to live with only half a pancreas (why would they do it if she couldnt). As i try to think back to my physiology 210 class, i think she might need to take something for digestion (much of the digestive enzymes are produced by the spleen, for breakdown in your small intestine).

      2. Type I diabetes mellitus is an autoimmune disease. For some reason, the immune cells that would normally be destroyed because they are targeted towards these
    • Well while this may not be the cure that we hope for it will certainly be needed once that cure is found. If we are able to cure type I diabetes we will still have to do these type of transplants to allow the cured to function normally since all their insulin producing cells had been destroyed before they were cured. Genetic therapy would only cure the cause for the diabetes this will cure the side effects.

    • To brother-post by the AC:

      As i try to think back to my physiology 210 class, i think she might need to take something for digestion (much of the digestive enzymes are produced by the spleen, for breakdown in your small intestine).

      Mmmh... Not exactly. The stomach produces a few enzymes helping with protein breakdown, but the pancreas does the most: fat-, sugar- and protein-digesting enzymes are all secreted by it. The spleen is mostly an immunological and hemopoietic organ (contributes to recycling old b

    • I was told in high school health class that diabities is almost 100% due to diet or lack of exersize. I am glad to see we are getting better reasons than "he's fat and does not exersize, so that is why he got sick".

      Right, and you can only get AIDS if you're gay.

      My best friend has diabetes that was diagnosed when he was 18. He biked the NYC 60-odd mile race every year since he was 14, was a member of the Harvard crew team, and ate better than anyone I've ever met. I always felt it unfair that he should

  • This is actually not new. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by PB_TPU_40 ( 135365 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @03:32AM (#12290321)
    A friend of my mothers about 3 years ago had this same type of surgery done. She had type-II diabetes since she was a teenager and had required shots. She no longer has to take insulin shots twice daily which has now been replaced by the pill.

    I saw someone post something about whether this would actually change quality of life, and I can say from seeing those close to me, yes. My father died of pancratic cancer, and the cancer caused type-II diabeties, and the ammount of effort that had to be put into regulating insulin levels, taking your shots, checking your blood, it all adds up. To just take a pill in the morning instead is considerably easier.

    Personally, I wouldn't like having to check my blood 3 times a day, and give myself injections on top of that. I'm sure most other people wouldn't like that either, to have that replaced by a pill would be a god send.

    It is something that hits close to home, and I'm sure that many of you /.ers out there probably have friends with type-II diabeties and don't even know it.
  • As far as I know (being type I), immunosuppressant drugs are considered worse than insulin in general. IF your diabetes is well regulated, your health can be perfect. Immunosuppressants on the other hand seem to cause some risks.

    The situation is different if the diabetes is not well regulated, for instance if the kidneys have been destroyed. In the latter case, when a kidney transplant necessitates immunosuppressants anyway, I believe it is quite common to also implant an extra pancreas (hopefully from a d

  • insulin NOT medication (Score:4, Interesting)

    by garvald ( 547907 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @03:46AM (#12290359)
    Insulin is not classified as a 'medication', but a hormone. I myself am diabetic (type 1) and would rather continue to take my 6 injections a day than have an operation and use drugs to combat my immune system. I really look forward to the day when there's a cure. I wish the japanese girl all the best tho !

  • Japanese weren't the first (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @03:56AM (#12290388)
    Ummm... I don't think the Japanese were the first. The University of Alberta is listed as the first organization to do this kind of transplant successfully. Check out;

    http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/artic/pancreatic_isl et_transplantation_niddk.htm

    "Scientists have made many advances in islet transplantation over the past 25 years. Dr. James Shapiro and colleagues at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, have used a new procedure called the Edmonton Protocol to treat eight patients with type 1 diabetes. These patients have been completely freed from insulin injections since the first transplant in mid-1999."

    and:

    http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/dept/cs/programs/pancr eas/research.html

    "The University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada was the first group to successfully maintain islet transplants using islets from two organ donors and a new steroid free immunosuppressive regimen."

    and:

    http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/pancreaticis let/

    "Scientists have made many advances in islet transplantation in recent years. Since reporting their findings in the June 2000 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, have continued to use a procedure called the Edmonton protocol to transplant pancreatic islets into people with type 1 diabetes. A multicenter clinical trial of the Edmonton protocol for islet transplantation is currently under way, and results will be announced in several years. According to the Immune Tolerance Network (ITN), as of June 2003, about 50 percent of the patients have remained insulin-free up to 1 year after receiving a transplant. A clinical trial of the Edmonton protocol is also being conducted by the ITN, funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International."

    Still... an amazing area of research and one hopes it leads to a more generally available cure for diabetes (without all the immunosuppresive side effects).

    /Min

  • One slight concern..... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by JaF893 ( 745419 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @04:08AM (#12290427) Journal
    ....she still needs to take powerful drugs to keep her immune system from rejecting the new cells

    If these drugs are suppressing her immune system then it could make her more at risk to other illnesses. I used to know someone who had a kidney transplant and he lived a reasonably normal life for 10+ years. But he died because the drugs to suppress his immune system meant that he caught an infection he was unable to fight off.:(

  • This case is unique (Score:4, Informative)

    by DoubleEdd ( 178052 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @04:14AM (#12290446)
    The [offline] article I read on this indicated that this case was unusual in that the girl did not have your standard type 1 diabetes but had developed it due to an inflammation of the pancreas when she was younger. As a result her immune system was not attacking her beta cells so this case is rather different from that in most type 1s whose bodies would attack implanted cells normally.

  • Immuno Suppressents are Good!! (Score:4, Informative)

    by eoinmadden ( 769606 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @05:14AM (#12290622)
    I see a lot of comments here from people saying "Oh dear, but isn't she on immuno-suppressents now? Isn't that a bad thing?"

    The short answer is No. Immuno-suppressents are not as bad as they sound. Taking them is no big deal.

    I've been on them for 4 years, since my kidney transplant. Contrary to popular belief they do not make you much more susceptible to every cold and flu going around. Obviously you are slightly more vulnerable to viral infections.. but in the last 4 years I have not suffered from any more illnesses than anyone else I know.

    Generally its just one pill a day which replaces dozens of pills, a few injections and in my case, dialysis.

    • Well, I'm really glad for you that it's only one pill, but in my mother's case, it's still a handful of pills taken multiple times a day (hey, still better than dialysis). She had a kidney transplant as well, and it was successful, but she is still required to take various immune suppressants and steroids, and she got a really bad case of shingles thanks to the immune system suppression. (to the point where she's going to be in a medical textbook).

      It's different for every person, but most of the cases I've

      • Re:Immuno Suppressents are Good!! (Score:4, Interesting)

        by eoinmadden ( 769606 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @06:14AM (#12290761)
        Alright, I'll be honest, its more than one pill.
        I take one immuno-suppressent (Cyclosporin) twice a day and one (very small dosage) steroid a day and my blood pressure pills.

        But my point is I was on maybe 4 times as many pills before my transplant. And the longer you are on dialysis the weaker your bones, heart and other parts become. Also dialysis is time consuming and very depressing.

        You can lead a normal life on immuno-suppressents. I and countless others do. I would not have a normal life without my transplant, if indeed I would still be alive.

        People should not be knocking transplants simply because they require you to take the immuno-suppressents afterwards.
        The alternative to transplants, from what I have seen, is always much much worse.

  • Diebetes Complications (Score:3, Informative)

    by Idou ( 572394 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @07:24AM (#12290974) Journal
    My father has diebetes, and though immuno-depressing drugs do not sound so great, having his insulin level constantly in sync with his blood-sugar level should greatly help prevent diebetic complications (which are far worse than the daily dealings with the disease).

    My father's daily routine is

    1) measure his blood-sugar level (pricking the finger is the most accurate way to test)

    2) injecting himself with the appropriate insulin amount.

    However, there is a limit to how many times a day this can be done which results in stress to his system inbetween injections.

    Though he is a type I diebetic, I certainly would not mind giving this treatment a shot even if his immune system would sabotage things in the end. I happen to live in Japan so it is not like I can complain about the treatment being too far from home . . .

    Where do I sign-up . . .
    • you father needs to go to a doctor that will give him better technology.

      My nephew has had it cince he was 13, he had some kind of illness that attacked his body and left him with the disease. He carries an insulin pager that constantly delivers a very tiny done that is regulated by a watch he has that communicates with an implant in his arm (that has to be replaced every 6 months) that gives him a readout of his blood sugar levels. He is a very active 21 year old now, very fit, extremely active and with

  • I wonder (Score:2, Insightful)

    by theufo ( 575732 )
    Since insulin is a relatively small polypeptide, wouldn't it be easier on the patient to grow the beta-cells on substrate inside microspheres with pores of about 50 nm? If you make the spheres out of non-organic material, immune cells will neither attack them or move into them.

    ASCII art:

    /-o-\
    / i \ i
    / \
    | csc |
    o csc io c = beta cells
    | csc | s = substrate (serum proteins)
    o csc o o = pore
    \ / i = insulin
    o / i
    \_o_/

    The insulin and glucose can traverse the pores, but immune cells can't reach
    • Research along the same lines (averting rejection of foreign islets)... http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read,1024,3456.html [diabeteshealth.com]


      In another study, researchers in Mexico transplanted cells from the testes and pancreas of newborn piglets into teenagers with diabetes without having to use anti-rejection drugs.

      Dr. Rafael Valdes, MD, and colleagues from the Children's Hospital of Mexico in Mexico City transplanted encapsulated islets that were taken from customized, disease-free piglets. The islets, produced by Dia
  • The cells are only going to last for roughly 5 years, and then the patient will have to resume taking insulin shots.
  • First of all: the cell transplant genie has been out of the bottle for about 5 years. Last mentioned success at King Hill hospital.
    This is no way new.

    2.: more important: the knock out here is the anti-immune-drugs. being treated with this means: live in a sterile environment, no carpet, no plants in your room etc, having any tooth fillings removed/teeth replaced with ceramics (drilled into the jaw. yes drilled) or a denture. And so on.
    Plus, a simple cold hits you like a hammer.
    So you pay your so called "he
  • how is this news for nerds? Yes they probably used computers to do the research - but this is the type of news that goes into a health journal not /. - arguably a website for people who like to talk about technology related issues.
    • how is this news for nerds? Yes they probably used computers to do the research - but this is the type of news that goes into a health journal not /.

      Slashdot is, contrary to popular opinion, more than a computer-nerd site - it's a site for all nerds - look at the categories availible! we have;

      - Computer nerds
      - Science nerds
      - Space nerds
      - Sci-Fi nerds
      - Politics nerds
      - Anime/RPG nerds
      - Legal nerds
      - Every other type of nerd imaginable.

      Not every nerd out there is fascinated by computers, and we h

  • Dr. Denise Fastman [harvard.edu] has reversed diabetes in mice [thediabetesblog.com]

    She's trying to raise money [reachforthecure.org] for human trials [joinleenow.org], but has run into a few bumps [iacoccafoundation.org]

  • Other (Better) Treatments (Score:4, Informative)

    by TornSheetMetal ( 411584 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @10:54AM (#12292408)
    While this is good news and all, there still have not been studies for the long term use of immusupressents. Being diabetic for over 30 years I keep up with this type of information. Dr Faustman, was the first to cure diabetes in long term non-obese mice. Type 1 diabetes is an auto immune disease. What Dr. Faustman did was to stop the auto immune disease and retrain the immune system. After the treatment, the insulin cells reproduce themselves and no more medication of any kind was needed. It's a two step process. She's now trying to raise 11 million for the first phase 1 trial on humans with the help of Lee Iaccoca (of Chrysler fame). Unfortunately, her process uses drugs who's patent has expired and hence not a lot money potential on something that already costs the United States over 100 Billion. Lee Iaccoca who has already donated over 20 million on diabetes research is spearheading raising money for this by going to the people. You can find out more information and donate (I have) at http://http//www.joinleenow.org [http]

  • This is OLD News; cf past Quirks & Quarks repo (Score:3, Informative)

    by ivi ( 126837 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @12:06PM (#12293086)

    Several -years- ago, the CBC's Quirks & Quarks
    (science program) announced the successful
    Edmonton Protocol (transplanting islets from
    healthy volunteers to Type 1 Diabetes sufferers).

    Trials were conducted around the world (incl'g
    Canada, USA & Sweden, to name a few locations)
    with success rates into the 80 & 90% ranges.

    Of course, the problem seemed to be rejection of
    the islets. necessitating the need to reduce the
    immune system's effectiveness in the recipient.

    So, WHAT'S NEW HERE?!?

    Doesn't this article's poster or /.'s acceptors
    read medical journals before embracing articles?

    Fair enough to let people know about treatments
    just in case peoples' doctors aren't telling them
    about them (what doctors or insulin-pump makers
    want to lose business?)

    But is this /. material? I don't think so...

    Correct me if I'm wrong.

    Next article, please.

  • not first transplant (Score:3, Informative)

    by peter303 ( 12292 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @01:25PM (#12293927)
    I believe it is the first living doner transplant. There have been successful [news-medical.net] cadever transplants before. Whole organ pancreas transplants havent lasted. Islet cell extractions inject into the blood or liver (like bone marrow transplants) have been more successful.

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