In a small experimental study, type 1 diabetics who received stem cell transplants were able to forgo taking insulin for up to four years, according to new research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The study was conducted because an earlier study found that 15 patients with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes, who underwent stem cell transplants, were able to remain insulin free for an average of 19 months. The new study wanted to test the idea that those effects were simply the result of a “honeymoon period” following the transplant.

In the new study, 12 of 23 patients, ages 13 to 31, remained continuously free from insulin injections for an average of 31 months. Of those, one study participant was insulin free for more than four years, four were insulin free for at least three years, three went without insulin for at least two years, and four achieved this for at least one year. Eight other study participants experienced “transient” insulin independence, meaning they had to start taking insulin again at lower levels.

Richard K. Burt, an associate professor at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago and co-author of the study, emphasized that stem cell transplants are not without risk. Sterility is one concern, but the most serious risk is a potentially lethal infection, he said. Read more…

Posted by Carrie Pollare

Source: US News & World Report