| 1 | TRT World | Revolutionary stem cell treatment is curing severe type 1 diabetes | 30270 | 723 | 17 | 59.7 | negative | 2:00 | A revolutionary stem cell treatment trial is showing positive results in curing severe type 1 diabetes. A team from the University of Toronto used stem cells to grow new eyelet cells and administered them to 12 patients. After 12 months of receiving the Zimila cell stem cell therapy, 10 out of 12 patients no longer needed to take any insulin shots. But how does it work? Type 1 diabetes means that a person's body can't create insulin, a hormone that controls sugar levels in blood. Without insulin, sugar builds up and can hurt a person's organs. But too much insulin can be dangerous, too. Normally, special cells in your pancreas called eyelet cells create insulin. But in patients with type 1 diabetes, these cells are damaged. The new treatment uses stem cell infusions to help the pancreas produce insulin again. The team used eyelet cells derived from human stem cells. These cells produced insulin safely in the body, helping patients rely less on costly insulin injections. By around 6 months after receiving the new eyelet cells, most patients didn't require any insulin shots at all. And their problems with low blood sugar disappeared within the first 90 days of treatment. However, because a special medication needs to be taken alongside the treatment to protect the new cells, some patients suffered side effects like weaker kidneys. Two patients died, but not as a result of the stem cell treatment. One succumbed to an infection after surgery, and the other died due to an unrelated health issue. The downside is that patients must take the medication continuously, which raises the chance of infections. The trial will now look at ironing out issues before it can seek approval and start changing the lives of 9.5 million people with type 1 diabetes around the world. | ↗ |