University of Toronto researchers say they are a step closer to a diabetes cure using adult stem cells. The team found pancreas cells from adult mice could be transformed into new islet cells — the cells that produce insulin. The scientists are hoping the same effect will be reproducible in humans. Type I diabetes, also known as insulin-dependent type, usually begins in childhood and involves the destruction of pancreatic islet cells. The restoration of new insulin-producing islet cells would mean a cure, and eliminate the necessity for ongoing insulin injections for this condition.
Dr. Simon Smukler, lead scientist of the study, told the BBC: “People have been intensely searching for pancreatic stem cells for a while now, and so our discovery of precursor cells within the adult pancreas that are capable of making new pancreatic cells is very exciting.”
Meanwhile, scientists at Northwestern University in Chicago, using adult stem cells derived from a patient's sister's bone marrow, have successfully treated the woman for crippling rheumatoid arthritis. The researchers reported that her morning stiffness was alleviated before she left the hospital, and now, one year later, she is no longer affected by the disease, and able to discontinue all medications.
The stem cell treatment resulted in “marked resolution of the disease manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis,” according to a Reuters news report.
Finally, scientists in Germany have successfully regrown a man's jaw-bone by using his own stem cells, and growing the bone within muscle tissues in his back. The man, whose jaw and half his tongue were removed due to mouth cancer, had his first real meal — a bratwurst sandwich — in nine years. The new jaw-bone was regrown with the aid of stem cells derived from his own bone marrow, hormones to stimulate growth, and a mesh cage. The cage was inserted into the muscle near his shoulder blade, and the bone took seven weeks to grow.
“He demanded reconstruction,” facial reconstructive surgeon, Dr. Patrick Warnke said, as reported by the Associated Press. “This patient was really sick of living.”
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Also, Cosmetic Surgeon Performs Self-Liposuction to Promote Adult Stem Cell Research
In an unusual effort to promote the use of fat to obtain stem cells, a Texas doctor has performed liposuction on himself in front of television crews. Dr. Robert Ersek performed the self-surgery under a local anesthetic and removed one-and one-half pounds of his own fat from one side of his body. With media looking on, he joked, “Somebody said we're doing our part to keep Austin weird.”
Stem cells have been found present in abundance in human fat as well as other tissues of the body. Stem cells, those cells in the body that can change into any kind of tissue, replace damaged tissue by changing from a kind of cell “blank” into the needed type and grafting themselves onto the damaged or diseased area. The potential for disease therapies is being met, with sometimes astonishing results, in many different illnesses and injuries, including Parkinson's disease and cancer. There remain no cures accomplished using cells derived from embryos. In addition, many attempts at curing diseases using embryo cells have ended in disastrous irreversible side effects for patients.
However, the fact that stem cells can be found readily available with little or no ethical problems in fat tissue was not widely known. Most media focus is on the claims of researchers that it is necessary to use embryonic and fetal human beings to obtain the cells. Ersek, an Austin cosmetic surgeon, has performed the unusual publicity stunt to encourage his patients to save their liposuctioned fat. The inventor of liposuction, Dr. Yves Gerard Illouz of Paris, was present and said of stem cell research, “this will be the future.”
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(This update courtesy of LifeSiteNews.com.)
