Participating in a marathon is a pretty amazing feat for anyone, but five people taking part in the 26.2-mile Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Oct. 7 share something that makes this amazing feat extra special: all of them were formerly dependent on insulin, but have had an islet cell transplant and are now living their lives diabetes-free!
Islet cell transplantation is what connects the five together as members of the athletic team Cellmates On The…
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Lots of organizations are working on new ways to accomplish islet cell transplantation in which the immune system does not kill off the transplanted cells. If they could do that, we’d likely have a cure for diabetes. But it ain’t easy, especially because we’re talking about transplanting into people whose immune systems are in mega-attack mode to begin with (type 1 diabetics).
The Diabetes Research Institute (DRI) in Florida is currently working on this challenge…
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By
AmyT on
November 16, 2006
Catchy title, ay? This is what they chose to dub the set of cutting-edge diabetes research presentations at last month’s NYC Diabetes Research Institute (DRI) meeting.
If you like to keep up on the latest and greatest advancements, this is certainly some stuff you should know about. Of particular interest:
* Preserving Beta Cells – Jay Skyler, NIH Study Chairman and past ADA President
Remember, it’s the so-called “regulatory t-cells” that keep the autoreactive (self-attacking)…
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