The possibility that cell transplantation could provide a permanent cure for diabetes gives those with the disease new hope. But delivery of the treatment could take some time, according to the Diabetes Federation of Ireland (DFI). "I think it has rekindled hope that there is a cure on the horizon," says DFI health promotion officer Anna Clarke.
This follows news from Britain of the successful transplantation into a 61-year-old diabetic man of insulin-producing islet cells. He no longer needs daily insulin injections but will have to take drugs to prevent tissue rejection, Clarke says, and will be on drugs for the rest of his life with no guarantee that the cells can continue to do their job.
There are also risks associated with long-term use of rejection prevention drugs. She is aware of similar islet transplant trials in Japan, where a mother successfully donated islet cells to her daughter, and in Canada. "With the Canadian trials many of the people still need insulin. It is great that with the British case they don't need insulin."
The technique is in its early days and there is no indication when the treatment might become available to Irish diabetics. "When the procedure is perfected it will be brought into Ireland as soon as possible," she says. There are an estimated 200,000 diabetics here, 10-20 per cent of them with Type I diabetes requiring daily insulin injections.
"This [ treatment] is for type I diabetics," Clarke says. The disease here was "on the increase in young children, which is alarming because they have it for life."
The treatment is particularly suited for "people with severe hypoglycaemic events", something that may further limit widespread use of the treatment. The risks associated with drugs after transplantation in part counters the benefits of good blood sugar regulation. "The big issue with islet transplantation is you have to have a donor," Clarke says. "The problem is getting the cells to stay alive in the body and getting them to produce insulin. You are always going to be dependent on donor supply."