Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Diabetics cured by stem-cell treatment

TimesOnline reported Diabetics using stem-cell therapy have been able to stop taking insulin injections for the first time, after their bodies started to produce the hormone naturally again. In a breakthrough trial, 15 young patients with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes were given drugs to suppress their immune systems followed by transfusions of stem cells drawn from their own blood.

Note this cure was from adult stem cells, not embryonic stem cells. This is just one of many cures that come from adult stem cells, or stem cells drawn from cord blood, and there is not yet a single cure from embryonic stem cells.
The results show that insulin-dependent diabetics can be freed from reliance on needles by an injection of their own stem cells. The therapy could signal a revolution in the treatment of the condition, which affects more than 300,000 Britons.

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