I am diabetic

Many in the diabetes community view islet transplants to treat Type 1 diabetes as trading in one set of problems for another. While such transplants often restore the body’s insulin-producing and blood-sugar controlling abilities, they do not address the autoimmune component of the disease. Therefore, patients have to take immunosuppressant drugs, which slow the body’s attack on the transplanted islets but also open the patient to other sicknesses.

However. Many that have had islet transplants tout the procedure as an overwhelming success. Kathy, of the online blog My New Isletsrecently recounted her experience at the Diabetes Transplant Summit in Bethesda, Md. earlier this month. It was organized by the Diabetes Research and wellness Foundation. Kathy, who lives in Ohio and has had diabetes for 25 years, received an islet transplant in the summer of 2008. She takes immunosuppressants Prograf and Rapamune.  

Kathy recounted how Dr. Bernard Hering explained that islet cell transplants can actually help reverse some of the complications from Type 1 diabetes. He also claimed, according to Kathy, that the blood sugar management of those with transplanted islets was far superior when compared to those with “tight control” using an insulin pump or continuous blood glucose monitor.

“I had described my transplant several times as the feeling that I had made a miraculous escape from a place that I didn’t want to be,” Kathy writes in her blog. She said that she has so much more energy now than before. While she considers the surgery a success, she does still have to take a small dose of insulin.

There were other transplant recipients speaking at the conference as well, including Mary Buche. She has remained insulin independent since her transplant in 2007. Before her surgery, Buche’s coworkers were spotting her low blood sugars before she could. She began to intentionally keep her blood sugar levels high to avoid scary lows.

Another islet recipient, Dave Thoen, was having trouble with hypo-unawareness, a condition where the patient doesn’t recognize or experience the symptoms of low blood sugar levels. Thoen was having seizures before the transplant. Ellen Berty, who has a transplant in 2001, was having lows while driving. She would stop her car in the middle of the road to fix the problem, if necessary. Gary Kleiman, who has had two kidney transplants and an islet transplant, has also been encouraged by the results.

Lastly, a speaker named Karla received a transplant in 2005. She doesn’t take insulin, but does take one unit of Byetta before breakfast and dinner. Karla once had her blood sugar fall as low as 10 and was rushed to the emergency room.

While there are some drawbacks to such a surgery, which is still not approved for widespread use, the recipients at this conference all say it has improved their lives dramatically.

Source: http://diabetesnewshound.com/type1/islet-transplant/

Tags: Islet, Patients, Procedure, Swear, Transplant

This entry was posted on Monday, November 29th, 2010 at 11:33 pm and is filed under Diabetes News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.