Stem Cell Treatment: a New Weapon against Diabetes

Thirty years. For thirty years, my grandmother has suffered from a dreadful illness - a “curse,” she often called it. Looking back upon my childhood, the most familiar image of her was a small, skeletal figure panting due to frequent fatigue and dizziness. Extreme exhaustion attacked her body without warning, and a needle and colorless liquid in the syringe followed her like a shadow. It was not until many years had passed that I realized and understood the pain of my grandmother. Diabetes was a name of the “curse” on her, which is also nicknamed the “silent killer” as it attacks the body stealthily, and the most despairing thing of all was the fact that there was no complete cure for it. She had sustained her life clinging to daily injection of insulin. Recently, however, hopeful news of “complete cure of diabetes” using stem cells has become the subject of conversation. The problem is that this treatment is rather a double-edged sword with very controversial issues and risky side effects.

Diabetes refers to a family of diseases where the body is unable to effectively produce or use insulin, the hormone produced by the pancreas to control blood sugar. The root cause of diabetes is not known, and so far there is no cure. Diabetes is a chronic medical condition, meaning that although it can be controlled, it lasts a lifetime. Therefore, people with diabetes must take responsibility for their day-to-day care which includes monitoring blood glucose levels, dietary management, maintaining physical activity, keeping weight and stress under control, monitoring oral medications and, if required, insulin use via injections or pump. Fortunately, it was recently announced that a handful of people with type 1 diabetes have been able to survive without insulin shots for more than two-and-a-half years, on average, after having their own blood stem cells removed and reimplanted through intravenous injection. It is also expected that stem cell treatment can be applied to curing of type 2 diabetes. Stem cells have become “weapons” against diabetes.

http://www.medicinenet.com/diabetes_mellitus/article.htm

http://www.ucsfhealth.org/conditions/diabetes_mellitus/treatment.html
http://articles.cnn.com/2009-04-15/health/stem.cells.diabetes_1_insulin-shots-insulin-producing-daily-insulin?_s=PM:HEALTH

Stem cells are different from other cells because they have the unique potential to become cells with special functions, such as the insulin-producing beta cells of islets found in the pancreas. Theoretically, stem cells could be induced in the laboratory to become pancreatic islet cells, and then transplanted back into a patient to replace diseased tissue. Transplantation of stem cells or stem-cell derived tissue into human patients, however, has not yet reached the clinical level. Over the last several years, though, many institutions have shown the practical potential of cell replacement therapy using stem cells to restore insulin function. A successful case of diabetes patients who were able to go without insulin injections for nearly five years after receiving transplants of their own immune stem cells gives great hope. A major focus of the transplantation is to develop a reliable and unlimited supply of healthy insulin-producing cells. Currently, insulin-producing islets are obtained from deceased organ donors, and only 1,500 organs become available each year – a miniscule fraction of what’s needed to help the millions with diabetes. Stem cells can serve as a substitute to alleviate the shortage of insulin-producing cells.

http://www.diabetes.org/advocate/our-priorities/funding/stem-cell-research.html
http://www.diabetesresearch.org/page.aspx?pid=709
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=diabetics-insulin-free-after-stem-c-2009-04-14

Yet, the controversy surrounding stem cell research led to an intense debate about ethics as well as possible side effects of stem cell transplantation. Stem cells can be derived from a number of sources, including adult tissues, but the purest source of stem cells with the greatest therapeutic potential is early-stage embryos. The process of deriving stem cells destroys the embryo. According to pro-life viewpoint, life begins at conception and destruction of human embryo is no different from murdering. Moreover, like any other new technology, it is also completely unknown what the long term effects of such an interference with nature could materialize. One concern of treatment is the possible risk of mutation of transplanted stem cells into tumors. Also, because embryonic stem cells are derived from embryos that are not a patient’s own, patient’s body may reject them. Even for adult stem cells, which have less controversial issue, the source of new islet cells is not clear, and some controversy exists over whether adult stem cells exist in the pancreas. Along with many other problems, the controversy over human stem cell research continues to rage furiously.

http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/submitted/stem_cells.html
http://www.onlinemedicinetips.com/alternative-medicine/stem-cell-treatment/controversy-in-stem-cell-research.html
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-stem-cell-research.html

Truly, stem cell transplantation and successful cases of the treatment are very hopeful news for those who have been fighting with diabetes. Since stem cells, especially embryonic stem cells, have a potential to grow into any specialized cell types, they can be used to replace insulin-producing beta cells in pancreas. This method is highly beneficial as the number of transplantable insulin-producing islets is far from enough compared to the number of diabetes patients. Also, once the stem cells are transplanted successfully, patients become free of daily insulin injection nearly up to five years. Nevertheless, not only has the process of extracting embryonic cells aroused ethical condemnation, but the expected side effects of the transplantation have also come to the fore. Those problems should be examined and solved soon to give the optimum answer for diabetes patients who live in pain every day, even at this moment.