Beta cell transplant good news for patients

LUCKNOW: Year 2006 has marked the beginning of death of type 1 diabetes. Clinical trails in beta cell transplant have delivered promising results, thereby assuring long term relief to patients suffering with type 1 diabetes, revealed, head, medicine department and diabetes clinic, King George's Medical University, Prof CG Agrawal.
Insulin is produced by beta cells in human body.This is important to convert food into glucose. In dibetes type 1, insulin is not produced in the body and given the shortage of insulin, potentially lethal levels of glucose accumulate in the bloodstream. Thus, type 1 diabetics, have to depend on multiple insulin shots every day to sustain themselves and avoid serious complications such as blindness, amputations and heart disease, he said.
Explaining beta cell transplantation he said,"Doctors perform the transplant by infusing beta cells from a donor into the recipient's portal vein - a short, wide vein that feeds blood into the liver. The beta cells sense the glucose in the blood and produce insulin to help the patient regulate his insulin level without having depending on insulin through injection."
He informed that in the year 2000, Admonten group carried out the first beta cell transplant. But doctors in the world failed to mimic the technique. Therefore, in 2003 an association of nine leading medical institutions in Europe were passed on the treatment protocol by the Admonten group.
The group members carried on beta cell transplantation in their respective medical institutions. To begin with, 25 percent of the highly insulin- dependent children did not needed insulin shots for two years.
Another 54 percent children from the same group did not needed insulin shots for one year. As many as 71 percent patients showed definite improvement in sugar profile and insulin intake. No improvement was seen in some cases as well.
"But this is good news. As the agony which type 1 diabetics especially children undergo is unbearable. We hope that the technique spreads out to other countries as well very soon," he said.