Diabetes Talking

Question:

 Is this too good to be true???  Copied from The Guardian Newspaper May 17 2000 www.guardian.co.uk sorry if  it’s a bit long but eventually it may be of help to us all.  By Sarah Bosley  Health corespondent  A British surgeon has announced a breakthrough in the treatment of diabetes,  holding out the prospect of an end to insulin injections and strict diets and a return to a normal life for millions around the world who suffer from the condition.  James Shapiro, based at the University of Alberta in Canada, told transplant surgeons in Chicago yesterday that he has successfully transferred human pancreatic islet cells, which generate insulin, into eight patients who once had chronic diabetes but are now living ordinary lives.  Richard Moore, clinical director of the transplant centre at University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, predicted enormous demand for the procedure. "This really is something  - a breakthrough", he said.  "Diabetes mellitus is a very severe disease and most diabetics would jump at the chance to have a normal diet, avoid a regime where they need several injections a day and constant monitoring of blood sugar levels".  Mr Shapiro told delegates at the joint conference of the American Society of  Transplants Surgeons and the American Society of Transplantation that he had extracted the cells from the pancreas of dead donors. They were kept alive and purified by fellow surgeon Jonathan Lakey and injected into a main vein, called the portal vein, connected to the liver.  The cells were carried in the bloodstream into the liver where they "nested". Even though they were in a different organ, they produced sufficient insulin to allow the patients to live for the first time without daily insulin injections.  After undergoing the transplants on average 11 months ago, Mr Shapiro said, the patients showed  "complete control" of a chemical marker which signals damage from high blood sugar. "There has been  clear and dramatic improvement in quality of life for the patients and no evidence of rejection."  The simple procedure does not need to be done by a surgeon, he added.  regards  ray wicks  England

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Is this too good to be true??? Copied from The Guardian Newspaper May 17 2000 www.guardian.co.uk sorry if it’s a bit long but eventually it may be of help to us all. By Sarah Bosley Health corespondent A British surgeon has announced a breakthrough in the treatment of diabetes, holding out the prospect of an end to insulin injections and strict diets and a return to a normal life for millions around the world who suffer from the condition. James Shapiro, based at the University of Alberta in Canada, told transplant surgeons in Chicago yesterday that he has successfully transferred human pancreatic islet cells, which generate insulin, into eight patients who once had chronic diabetes but are now living ordinary lives. Richard Moore, clinical director of the transplant centre at University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, predicted enormous demand for the procedure. "This really is something  - a breakthrough", he said. "Diabetes mellitus is a very severe disease and most diabetics would jump at the chance to have a normal diet, avoid a regime where they need several injections a day and constant monitoring of blood sugar levels". Mr Shapiro told delegates at the joint conference of the American Society of Transplants Surgeons and the American Society of Transplantation that he had extracted the cells from the pancreas of dead donors. They were kept alive and purified by fellow surgeon Jonathan Lakey and injected into a main vein, called the portal vein, connected to the liver. The cells were carried in the bloodstream into the liver where they "nested". Even though they were in a different organ, they produced sufficient insulin to allow the patients to live for the first time without daily insulin injections. After undergoing the transplants on average 11 months ago, Mr Shapiro said, the patients showed  "complete control" of a chemical marker which signals damage from high blood sugar. "There has been  clear and dramatic improvement in quality of life for the patients and no evidence of rejection." The simple procedure does not need to be done by a surgeon, he added. regards ray wicks England

Response:

Is this too good to be true???

Well, I’ll tell ya’… it sounded "too good to be true" the first time around… The other eight times, it sounded just "too". FPP

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