Diabetics using stem-cell therapy have been able to stop taking insulin injections for the first time, after their bodies started to produce the hormone naturally again.
These successes were limited in nature and not a cure. Richard Burt, a co-author of the study from Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago noted:
“As a research scientist I am always hesitant to speak of a cure, but the initial results have been good and show the importance of conducting more trials,”
I want to point out that these successes were accomplished without embryonic stem cells. The procedure harvested stem cells from the patients, and then after using a mild chemotherapy to eliminate the white blood cells causing the damage to the pancreas the stem cells were reintroduced into the patient.
As I noted here, this is just one more success for adult stem cell research.
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