Islet cell transplants from pig and now auto-islet implants, the research and news about treatment that will cure diabetes continues to grow. 

 Try this natural treatment to aid diabetes.  

Cure For Diabetes - Is The Pancreatic Islet Transplantation feasible? 

The Pancreatic Islet Transplantation or what is known as the Edmonton Protocol is an experimental procedure that makes use of islets extracted from the pancreas of a recently deceased organ donor.

The process involves the transplant of said islets to a patient suffering from diabetes type 1. The beta cells of these transplanted islets are expected to produce the insulin lacked by the type 1 diabetes patient. This experiment then, hopes to provide the cure for diabetes mellitus.

Diabetes type 1 is that diabetic condition where the beta cells of the pancreas is unable to produce insulin as a result of the attacks launched by the body's immune system. The transplantation of islet therefore is expected to provide a cure for diabetes type 1 patients, which will enable them to live a normal life free from insulin dependence.

Although the diabetes type 2 condition deals with insulin resistance, it has been noted that the diabetic condition of the patient will also develop to insulin decline or progress later on as diabetes type 1. Many supporters of the Pancreatic Islet Transplantation believe that this will also be a cure for diabetes type 2 to relieve sufferers of their eventual need for insulin injections.

The islets referred to here are the cluster of cells or tissues known in the medical world as Islets of Langerhans. These islets are microscopic and are scattered throughout the pancreas forming part of the endocrine glands. They contain the cells which secret the beta cells that produce the insulin necessary for glucose absorption and any failure of these islets to produce these beta cells lead to diabetes mellitus or type 1 diabetes.

Although clinically promising at first, a 5-year follow-up after the transplantation procedure was made and the results were not as favourable as expected. Only ten percent of the patients remained free of insulin dependence while the rest went back to the use of insulin shots since the transplanted islets eventually lost its ability to produce insulin.

The only benefits that the latter group of patients gained, was their less demand for insulin since the patients were able to achieve glucose stability. Hence, to date, pancreatic transplantation has not gained the medical support as 1000 the ultimate cure for diabetes.

It is also believed that the eventual failure of the transplanted islet to produce insulin was also attributed to the body's immune system. The beta cells produced by the transplanted islets were also attacked by the body's immune system. Hence, in the same way that the natural beta cells of the body were impaired, the patient still suffers from diabetes mellitus or diabetes type 1.

Critics say that it was actually a project doomed from the beginning; others pointed out that the root of the insulin impairment problem was the inability of the immune system to recognize insulin beta cells as essential to digestive functions, instead of treating these insulin cells as bacteria.

Perhaps, further experimentations therefore in the search for the elusive cure for diabetes should have more concern in orienting the auto-immune system on how to recognize friendly and non-friendly substances found in the body.

By: Alvin Hopkinson

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Islet Cell Transplant for Chronic Pancreatitis                            An auto-islet cell transplant procedure avoids surgically caused diabetes while also alleviating the pain. An auto-islet transplant involves first removing the pancreas, and the islets (the clusters of insulin-producing beta cells [...]

JOHN FENZEL: The Next Nobel Prize?

Their research demonstrated that diabetes is controlled by abnormalities in the sensory nociceptor (pain-related) nerve endings in the pancreatic islet cells that produce insulin. This discovery, a breakthrough that has long been the [...]

UA Surgeons Perform Islet Cell Transplants.

“By removing the pancreas and infusing the islet cells back into the body to reduce the risk of surgically induced diabetes, the patient has potential for a much better quality of life,” said Dr. Rilo. 

How Does Obesity Cause Diabetes?

How Does Obesity Cause Diabetes?:Understanding Diabetes 1. When w e t, the pancreas releases insulin, w ich sit on receptοrs in th cells, allowing blood[...]

Molecular Pathogenesis of Modys

Attempts have been made to highlight results and concepts that may be relevant for understanding type-II diabetes in general, exemplified by contributions that connect the field of pancreatic islet cell biology and pathology.

Alvin Hopkinson is a leading health researcher in the area of natural remedies and diabetes natural treatment. Discover how you can reverse your diabetes for good using proven and effective home remedies, all without using harmful medications or drugs. Visit his site now at www.minusdiabetes.com

Technorati Tags: cure for diabetes, insulin, islets transplant.pancreas, pancreatic

Adult Stem Cells

Stem cell treatment for diabetes,

The article looks at Adult Stem Cells, how they differ from Embryonic Stem Cells and what they can do to help you body regenerate and repair.  I'm sure you've already heard about Stem Cells. Maybe you saw a news story or a read a news article or saw the Presidential address. They are the most widely publicized scientific discovery today and with good reason. How about Embryonic Stem Cells? They have created a great deal of controversy and with good reason. The lure of what Embryonic Stem Cells can do for our health has led to ethical issues surrounding such things as embryo harvesting. One thing remains, Stem Cells represent the future of Health and Wellness as we know it. And they are here to stay.

So what are they?

Stem Cells are master cells, meaning that they can generate many, if not all, of the different tissues of the body. They are with us our entire lives and are released naturally from the bone marrow, but like everything else, the process behind their release slows down with age. When there aren't as many stem cells in the blood stream, the body can't repair and renew itself as it once did. These master cells are still contained in the bone marrow in the millions, just not being released as they should.

As this natural release occurs we need to concern ourselves with finding ways to reverse it. The good news is there are 4 things we can do.

Exercise - as we already know, regular exercise is vital to good health
Proper breathing - deep breathing oxygenates the blood and tissues
Good Nutrition - we need nutrients to nourish and water to flush toxins from our cells
Stem cell enhancers - a new product category set to become what antioxidants are today

Stem Cells are the only known source for rebuilding the body and renewing health by restoring lost or degraded cells. They have already been used to help treat things such as Leukemia, AIDS, Alzheimer's Disease and multiple sclerosis.

They have been used to form new cartilage, grow new corneas to restore sight to the blind, as treatments for stroke victims, and several groups are using adult stem cells with patients to repair damage after heart attacks.

Early clinical trials have also shown initial success in patient treatments for Parkinson's disease and spinal cord injury. And, the first FDA-approved trial to treat juvenile diabetes in human patients is ready to begin at Harvard Medical School, using adult stem cells.

In short, they are the building blocks of life itself.

Adult versus Embryonic Stem Cells.

Adult Stem Cells is the term given to stem cells after birth which means babies have adult stem cells in their bodies. Embryonic stem cells are simply those from embryos -- undifferentiated, or not developed into a specific cell types. Research has shown that embryonic stem cells can develop genetic abnormalities. This is not the case with our own adult stem cells.

For this reason, researchers such as Kursad Turksen in his book 'Adult Stem Cells' offer the following wisdom: "Adult stem cell biology is at the forefront of the emerging field of regenerative medicine, offering a source of cells to generate tissues that lack some of the ethical and political impediments inherent in embryonic, fetal, and cloned cells."

The biggest advantage of using adult stem cells is that the body's own stem cells can be used, effectively removing the problems of immune rejection or abnormalities.

Adult stem cell science is real.

Adult stem cell research offers the best and clinically proven treatments for a whole host of human diseases and conditions and is helping people overcome these health challenges as you read this article. There are currently over 700 FDA approved clinical trials going on in the United States using adult stem cells but none for embryonic stem cells which is why the future of regenerative health and wellness looks great with Adult stem cells.

--

Matt Canham runs http://adult-stem-cells.info, a site dedicated to informing people about how increasing the number of adult stem cells circulating in the blood stream can help maintain optimal health.

Beijing clinic offering stem cell therapy 

Beijing clinic offering stem cell therapy to youthen your face. A Beijing clinic has apparently skipped all the controversy surrounding using stem cells and jumped right to marketing it 

Stem cell therapy is not without risk

This is the first report of a human brain tumor complicating neural stem cell therapy. The findings here suggest that neuronal stem/progenitor cells may be involved in gliomagenes

Stem Cell Therapy For Type II Diabetes

Stem Cell Therapy For Type II Diabetes. Posted by: admin In: Diabetes. =. Share This Post. Tags: 2, Bone, Cell, Cells, Clinic, 

Stem cell therapy in India 

adult-stem-cell-therapy Binder Pal, 40 year old man from Phillaur and a 26 year old girl from Hoshiarpur would have died from killer lymphoblastic leukaemia and lymphoma respected.

Funding for Stem Cell Research Returns

WEAU 13 NEWS - WEAU.com Providing NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS & more to Eau Claire, La Crosse, and all of Western Wisconsin.  

Stem Cell Therapy For Osteoarthritis

In the last few years, a number of methods have been developed to repair cartilage damage. These include osteochondral transplantation, microfracture surgery and autologous chondrocyte

Technorati Tags: adult stem cell, adult stem cell treatment, adult stem cells treatment, diabetes, embryonic stem cells treatment, stem cell treatment, therapy

Stem Cell Research: The US Science of 'untouchable' techniques.

When George Bush banned funding he effectively put researchers into quarantine.

A bridge next to Kevin Eggan's laboratory overlooks one of the most concentrated square miles of scientific fire power in the world: North Yard, the science hub of Harvard. The bridge, a recent construction in glass and steel, was intended to facilitate collaboration between two research teams.

On one side is the lab run by Dr Eggan, an assistant professor of molecular and cellular biology who specialises in human embryonic stem cell research; on the other is the Bauer Centre for Genome Research, which focuses on genes.

Working together, the teams started devising projects to analyse the genetics of human embryonic stem cells, with Dr Eggan's team generating the cells on one side of the bridge and their DNA being analysed on the other side.

But on August 9 2001 a metaphorical shutter came down that closed the bridge as effectively as if it had been bricked up. George Bush issued a presidential decree banning the use of federal funds for research on new human embryonic stem cell lines.

He delighted anti-abortionists and the Christian right, who oppose what they see as scientists making life and death decisions. This is despite the fact that most stem cell lines derive from surplus fertilised eggs from IVF treatment that would be destroyed in any case.

Dr Eggan and his team were able to carry on their work only because Harvard was committed to it and wealthy enough to fund it privately. But overnight, the ban turned them into the equivalent of dogs suspected of carrying rabies. Everything they did or touched, from high-tech equipment down to paperclips and the electricity used in the building, had to be quarantined from federally funded labs around them.

The joint project between the Eggan lab and the Bauer Centre was an immediate casualty. It was suspended to avoid "contamination" with the centre, which does receive federal funds.

Kafkaesque

Over the past five years the imperative of segregating all stem cell research has created a jumble of red tape. This has allowed collaboration to restart, but at a price. In the Eggan lab each piece of equipment is marked with a sticker: green for privately funded machines that can be freely used; red for those bought by the National Institutes of Health, the federal funding body, which must not be used in stem cell research.

The most Kafkaesque is the yellow sticker. This is applied to equipment that is federally owned but where a deal has been reached: whenever a scientist uses the machine they record it in a book and the NIH is reimbursed.

In one room there are two cryostats, used to prepare tissue for the microscope, standing side by side. One has a green sticker, the other red. Someone has put a label above the red machine, showing Mr Bush pointing straight out and saying: "You there! No human ES cell sectioning on this machine!"

For Dr Eggan, a young scientist of 32 who is itching to get on with research, the result has been agony and frustration: "I've spent the last three years of my life trying to get this sorted. At least a third of my time is still spent keeping the accounts and equipment separate."

No one yet knows where stem cell studies might lead, but most experts in the field believe there is huge potential for discovering new ways of treating diseases including diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, or the cruel wasting disease spinal muscular atrophy.

Embryonic stem cells are the basic building blocks created when an egg is fertilised. About 100 cells cluster to form a ball known as a blastocyst, and at this stage each cell is capable of turning into any organ or tissue of the body. In Dr Eggan's laboratory, the computers show stem cells that have just transformed themselves into heart cells, pulsating under the microscope.

The Holy Grail for researchers is to control that process so that cells can be instructed to turn into different parts of the body. That could allow more accurate and humane ways of testing drugs on diseased cells grown in Petri dishes rather than on patients, and pave the way for a new generation of medicines.

None of this can be realised, scientists say, unless there is concerted and collaborative effort, with the US as the world's research engine. "This work is so hard and so in its infancy that to be counting paperclips because of a federal injunction is, to put it politely, unfortunate," said Susan Solomon, chief executive of the New York Stem Cell Foundation, a privately funded research body.

The Bush administration has sought to disarm criticism by allowing experiments to go ahead on supplies of cells created before the decree was issued in 2001. But, beside what some scientists point to as questionable logic, several of these "presidential lines" have proved faulty or been contaminated by being grown in animal culture. As a result, stem cell research in the US is now largely confined to a small number of prestigious establishments such as Harvard and the New York foundation, which can pull in sufficient private money to generate their own lines.

Other institutions, more dependent on federal funding, have been dissuaded from entering the field.

Paul Nurse is the president of the Rockefeller University in New York, which has seven Nobel laureates. Like Harvard it has the private funds to support stem cell research, but he is aware of several institutions unable to take the risk. "In theory if we used one plastic test-tube bought with just one cent of federal money for stem cell research we could jeopardise our entire research programme of $100m (52m). That has created a climate of fear," he said.

The worst effect of the ban, he believes, is that it is pushing away a generation of young scientists. He knows people who have been inhibited from taking on stem cell research because of the bureaucracy.

Scientists' hopes are focused on the incoming Democrats who take control of Congress in January. But with a majority of two-thirds needed to overturn a presidential decree, Mr Bush is likely to be able to block any attempt to lift the ban. Few expect any change until he leaves the White House in two years' time. Until then Dr Eggan and his colleagues will carry on wrestling with their stickers and double accounting.

Explainer: Gains could be huge

Stem cells can divide to produce a variety of cell types, such as those in the blood or brain. The most useful to scientists are embryonic stem cells, from human embryos that are a few days old. These cells go on to produce every cell and tissue type in the body.

It is this ability that has scientists so excited. Already adult stem cells are used in, for example, bone marrow transplants for leukaemia, and if the power of stem cells to grow new tissues can be harnessed, doctors might be able to treat diseases such as Alzheimer's by using stem cells to replace missing structures in the brain. One day it might even be possible to regrow limbs or organs.

These clinical applications are a long way off. In the short term, studying embryonic cells will help scientists understand how structures in the body are formed and how congenital diseases develop. That could lead to treatments. Drugs will be tested on stem cells that mimic features of genetic diseases, so fewer animals will be used.

Progress is being made. A recent study published in the journal Nature successfully tested a stem cell treatment for muscular dystrophy in dogs. The researchers are next moving on to human trials.

James Randerson

Technorati Tags: politics of cell research, Research, stem cell, stem cell techniques

Ethics of  Stem Cell Research

Read on to know more about the various aspects surrounding the issue of stem cell research ethics...

Stem cell research has come into the limelight recently, because of the large scale questions being raised about the ethics involved. There are people who are all for it, and there are people against it.

But first, let us know what stem cells are all about.

In the human body, there are a variety of cells (220 types, to be exact) - blood cells, nerve cells, brain cells, tissue cells, bone cells etc. Many of these cells keep on developing within the human body at all times.

3 days after an ovary is fertilized, the embryo is at the 'blastocyst' stage. These embryos are also referred to as 'pre-embryos'. This means, that these embryos do not have a brain, heart, lungs, internal organs etc. They also do not possess any awareness, or senses, or thought processes.

Now, research has been able to isolate those cells present within these 'pre-embryos' which will eventually become one of the 220 types of cells within the body. Call them a basic template cell, if you will. Upon being nudged into the right direction, the stem cell can grow to become a liver, a lung, a heart or a nerve cell. Literally, the possibilities are endless.

This means that people suffering from various diseases could find cures. Those patients who undergo organ transplants need not take drugs to avoid the rejection of the transplant. They need not wait endlessly for a transplant either. They can simply have the organ grow back. There can be a cure for broken bones, brain damage, spinal cord injuries, burns to the skin, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, leukemia, muscular diseases, Parkinson's disease etc. Actually, the list is quite vast.

But this process has come under the scanner due to the ethics around the process of extracting the stem cells. The main basis being that when the stem cells are being extracted from the 'pre-embryo', the embryo needs to be discarded because it has now become useless. Many pro-lifers and religious groups oppose this part of stem cell research. They claim that the 'pre-embryo' is a potential human being. Some claim that this 'pre-embryo' has a soul. They see this type of experimentation as a murder and liken it to the Nazi-type of medical experimentation on human beings.

Another aspect of the ethics of stem cell research that has come under the scanner is regarding those stem cell lines which were already developed in the past, before the controversy arose. The question is whether government funding for these projects should continue.

Stem cell research ethics are being questioned not just because of religious opposition, but because of the fact that many of these embryos were part of the surplus embryos in government labs. Some also say that stem cell research is the first step towards cloning, which is again another controversial subject.

Taking all this into account, several alternative options are also being examined by researchers. They are looking at adult stem cell research. However, this research is purportedly quite limiting. This is because these adult cells have already decided which of the 220 types they belong to. Therefore, researchers cannot do much with these cells.

Researchers are also considering the use of legally aborted fetuses for the use of stem cell research.

Another option that is being considered is the presence of stem cells within the umbilical cords of babies. Nowadays, these umbilical cords are being stored and used to further stem cell research.

Stem Cells: The Bad, the Good, and the Question of Science

There is a frequently stated fiction that those of us who oppose embryonic stem cell research (ESCR) are “anti-science.” Actually I can (and do) thank science that I didn’t die in 1978, for I surely would not have survived without some very ... There are many issues in which science and ethics interact. I’m opposed to atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons. I’m even opposed to underground testing. I’m willing to bet you are too. 

Medical Ethics 

A heartbreaking story is coming from Israel today about a boy with a lethal brain disease whose parents -- out of desperation -- sought experimental stem cell therapy and ended up adding to their son's problems. 

New stem cell therapy to treat Crohn's disease

A Student Stem Cell Blog. ... Following the previous immunosuppression, the organism reacts by releasing stem cells from the bone marrow into the blood; these are the cells which will later be used for the transplant..

New Mexico Independent: Embryonic stem cell research

The state Senate minutes ago passed by a vote of 27-14 legislation to allow embryonic stem-cell research. The opposition was bipartisan, with nine Republicans and five Democrats voting against the legislation.

Stem Cell: Congratulations!!! You Have Emerged Winner

Student Society For Stem Cell Research. We believe that stem cell research will revolutionize the field of medicine. With a coordinated and cooperative global effort, we can advance stem cell research in the most efficient manner.

Technorati Tags: cure for diabetes, diabetes and stem cells, stem cell ethics, stem cells and diabetes

Stem Cell Research Human stem cell research is both a controversial as well as a cutting-edge technology. On one hand it promises to revolutionize medicine while on the other hand it raises a host of ethical issues. Read on to know both the advantages and disadvantages of stem cell research.

Stem cell therapy and stem cell research have been a hotly debated topic over recent years. Most of us may have a general understanding of the controversy, but we may be unaware of the specific issues surrounding stem cell therapy and its research. There are many advantages and disadvantages to stem cell therapy and research, but what are these advantages and disadvantages?

Stem Cell Research, for some, is the stuff of Science fiction movies while for others, this research has advantages and holds the promise of a new chance at life. Imagine a world where transplants could be done without another person losing an organ. This could be possible with the advancements in stem cell research.

What is Stem Cell Research?

Stem Cell Research is directed at the potential that certain types of cells, called stem cells, have for regenerating damaged tissue in the body. A stem cell is capable of developing into other types of cells, like kidney cells, liver cells, heart cells, etc. Stem cells circulate and function to replace dysfunctional cells, naturally maintaining optimal health. Current medical research is focused on two particular types of stem cells, adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells.

Out of the three types of stem cells, two are able to develop into any type of cell within the human body. These two are called totipotent and pluripotent respectively. Stem cells that are pluripotent have the capability of forming virtually all of the possible tissue types found in human beings. These stem cells can only be found in a particular stage (a blastocyst) in human embryos. Multipotent stem cells are partially differentiated, so that they can form a restricted number of tissue types. Multipotent stem cells can be found in the fetus, in numerous adult tissues and umbilical cord blood. The third type of stem cells has less regenerative potential and can only develop into a limited number of other types of cells.

Advantages of Stem Cell Research

• It provides medical benefits in the fields of therapeutic cloning and regenerative medicine.
• It provides great potential for discovering treatments and cures to a plethora of diseases including Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease, Cancer, spinal cord injuries, diabetes and many more.
• Limbs and organs could be grown in a lab from stem cells and then used in transplants or to help treat illnesses.
• It will help scientists to learn about human growth and cell development.
• Scientists and doctors will be able to test millions of potential drugs and medicine, without the use of animals or human testers. This necessitates a process of simulating the effect the drug has on a specific population of cells. This would tell if the drug is useful or has any problems.
• Stem cell research also benefits the study of development stages that cannot be studied directly in a human embryo, which sometimes are linked with major clinical consequences such as birth defects, pregnancy loss and infertility. A more comprehensive understanding of normal development will ultimately allow the prevention or treatment of abnormal human development.
• Another advantage of stem cell research is that it holds the key to reversing the effects of aging and prolonging our lives. Stem cell research has already found many treatments that help slow the aging process, and a bonus of further stem cell research is a possible 'cure' for aging altogether.
• An advantage of the usage of adult stem cells to treat disease is that a patient's own cells could be used to treat a patient. Risks would be quite reduced because patients' bodies would not reject their own cells.
• An advantage of using embryonic stem cells is that they can develop into any cell types of the body, and may then be more versatile than adult stem cells.

Disadvantages of Stem Cell Research

• The use of embryonic stem cells for research involves the destruction of blastocysts formed from laboratory-fertilized human eggs. For those people who believe that life begins at conception, the blastocyst is a human life and to destroy it is immoral and unacceptable.
• Like any other new technology, it is also completely unknown what the long term effects of such an interference with nature could materialize.
• Embryonic stem cells amy not be the solution for all ailments.
• According to a new research stem cell therapy was used on heart disease patients. It was found that it can make their coronary arteries become narrower.
• A disadvantage of most adult stem cells is that they are pre-specialized, for instance, blood stem cells make only blood, and brain stem cells make only brain cells.
• A disadvantage of embryonic stem cells is that they are derived from embryos that are not a patient's own and the patient's body may reject them.

Truly, the controversy over human stem cell research will continue to rage furiously. We hope there is some novel scientific innovation in the future, which will have the advantages of stem cells without compromising the right of human life to exist. One should realize that man should control technology and certainly not the other way around.

Human Genome Sciences to Receive $9 Million Milestone Payment
Human,Genome,Sciences,to,Receive,$9,Million,Milestone,Payment,Related,to,GlaxoSmithKline,Initiation,of,Phase,3,Clinical,Trial,of,Syncria(R),in,Type,2,Diabetes,biological,advanced biology technology,biology laboratory technology ... Before Congress takes its traditional August break... support for human embryonic stem cell research.

Molecule that suppresses immune response under study.
Type 1 diabetes is classified as an autoimmune disease because the immune system targets healthy islet cells for destruction, leaving young patients unable to use glucose, a major fuel source for the body. .... Other Biology News:Novel laboratory technique nudges genes into activity 2Novel laboratory technique nudges genes into activity 3When smell cells fail they call in stem cell reserves 2Brain works more chaotically than previously thought 2Brain.

Technorati Tags: diabetes, diabetes and stem cells, diabetes stem cell therapy, stem cell research