In a startling breakthrough, a researcher at Northwestern University says that a small stem cell trial in Brazil has enabled 13 of 15 patients with type 1 diabetes to stop using insulin to treat the disease for at least six months. The patients have been tracked for seven to 36 months. In the Brazil trial, researchers removed the patients' stem cells and then treated them with chemotherapy to destroy malfunctioning immune-system cells. The stem cells were then injected and formed new immune-system cells. Dr. Richard Burt says there was a one in 200 chance of death, though none of the patients in the trial died. That threat, though, spurred criticism that the trial participants were exposed to an unnecessary risk. What remains to be seen is whether the cure was temporary or permanent.
- read the report on the study from the Chicago Tribune
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