Stem Cell Therapy for Diabetes
Diabetes is a serious disease that has continued to debilitate the human race. This disease comes in two forms namely the diabetes type 1 which is also known as juvenile and the type 2 diabetes which is also known as adult diabetes. The type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder which occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks and kills the beta cells of the pancreas. When this happens the release of insulin in the body will be interfered with adversely. Consequently, sugar builds up in the blood instead of being used as energy. About five to 10 per cent of people with diabetes have type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes generally develops in childhood or adolescence, but can also develop in adulthood. Type 1 diabetes is always treated with insulin. However some dietary approaches can be used to help in keeping the sugar level right.
Diabetes is one of the top ten leading causes of death worldwide according to a recent WHO report; in 2012 the global prevalence of diabetes was estimated to be more than 10% among adults. The most prevalent type of diabetes is the type 2 and it is rampant in adult population. Diabetic patients develop hypertension and cardiovascular diseases, which account for high rates of morbidity and mortality among adult patients. In the past treatment of diabetes has been marred by different factors, oral medications that were the major form of treatment are not as effective as after sometime the patient may develop insulin dependence. Oral insulin medication is also not so effective since exogenous insulin cannot provide the tight glycemic control exerted by the pancreas-derived insulin secretion. Researchers consequently have been prompted to come up with better ways of addressing this menace. Stem cell therapy is the new effective way that is hoped to save the human race. It works by replacing the damaged cells and normalizing the blood sugar level.
Autologous stem cell transplant for treatment of diabetes
The stem cells are very important owing to their crucial functions in the body. These cells are present in the bone marrow and in the adipose tissues. Owing to their ability to form other cells and tissues, they can be harvested from either the bone marrows or the adipose tissues and be used to heal or replace cells in the affected places. When the harvest of the stem cells is done from the patient’s own body and the used within his body then it is called autologous stem cells transplant. Autologous stem cell transplant is safer since the cells are from the body and therefore there is no risk of them getting rejected neither to induce unpleasant allergic reaction nor require need for immunotherapy. The autologous stem cell therapy can be used to replace the affected cells and help restore proper functioning.
In autologous stem cell transplants, the doctors use peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. With peripheral blood stem cell transplantation, the stem cells are taken from blood. The growth factor G-CSF may be used to stimulate the growth of new stem cells so they spill over into the blood. G-CSF is a protein that is produced naturally in the body. The blood is removed from a vein and passed through a machine that separates the stem cells. The machine then returns the remaining blood through a needle in the person’s arm or through a central venous catheter. This way of collecting stem cells is called apheresis
Using mesenchymal cells yields best results
Before the use of autologous stem cell transplant, the islet transplantation was majorly used in cell based therapy for diabetes treatment. This method however successfully used in the past has its own disadvantages. Its major pitfalls included the following; limited donors, graft rejection, the need for continued immune suppression and exhaustion of the donor cell pool. To help fill these pitfalls that made this treatment unpleasurable, researchers targeted the stem cell therapy as a better alternative and they were not wrong, it has been noted that the stem cell therapy works better for diabetic patients who fail to control hyperglycemia even with insulin injection. This is because autologous cells are readily available and do not entail prolonged hospital stays or sustained immunotoxic therapy. Among autologous adult stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells therapy has been applied with varying degrees of success in both animal models and in clinical trials.
The cell based therapies had been introduced in treatment of diabetes for diabetes mellitus and it surely achieved success. It involved the use of islet transplantation. It was so successful especially in treatment of diabetes type 1 but it had some other failures that could not be overlooked and it’s these failures that are now addressed by the stem cell therapy. Stem cell therapy is a solution to some of the drawbacks of islet transplantation especially the shortage of donors. Autologous stem cell therapy allows for a person’s on organs to be used in the transplant.
The mesenchymal stem cells are used as they are able to proliferate and form new more effective cells replacing the damaged cells. They are mostly harvested in both the bone marrow and the adipose tissues where they are available in the highest amount. The mesenchymal stem cells help maintain the capacity of multilineage differentiation potential, both within and across lineage barriers. They are easy to cultivate and expand, and maintain pluripotentiality after prolonged culture conditions.
Diabetes is a killer disease; visit us at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Centre at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) an expert in integrative and regenerative medicine will be able to help.
Stem Cell Therapy for Diabetes
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