Potential Cure for Type I Diabetes?

15 patients with Type I diabetes underwent autologous stem cell transplants, with the hope of eliminating the autoimmune attack on the pancreas. Study findings, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), suggest that the procedure was highly successful in 13 of the 15 participants.

All patients tolerated the extensive and potentially life-threatening treatment regimen. Save two patients, all seem to have essential disease reversal and no longer require insulin or any other medications to control diabetes. Patients underwent therapy at different timepoints; the longest period elapsed since the procedure is three years. That patient has not seen return of the condition.

Larger studies, including randomized trials comparing transplant to the standard treatment, are required to further evaluate therapeutic efficacy. The study was conducted in Brazil.

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