Researching and Curing Diabetes

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDKD), along with other private and government agencies that support diabetes programs, conduct research and use statistics to help deal with this growing problem of diabetes. Within the past few years, the research that these institutions have done have helped develop better ways to manage diabetes, inject insulin, successful kidney and pancreas transplants, and newer and better drugs to help deal with this growing disease. Because type 2 diabetes is more complex than type 1, a cure for type 2 diabetes will not be found until more research is done on insulin resistance in the body. Because type 1 diabetes has to do with the failure of one function in one organ, there are more research opportunities available for type 1 diabetes. Some techniques for curing type 1 diabetes includes the transplanting of beta cells into mice and humans, but these patients will still have to take a drug to protect the transplanted tissue. Some alternatives include isolating the beta cells from the immune system by transplanting them into a semi-permeable container. Another research technique is through stem cell research which may be able to foster re-growth of islet cells in the human pancreas. The only patients, who have been “cured” of diabetes, are those who have received a kidney-pancreas transplant.

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Related Topics...

• Diabetes Overview
• Diagnosing Diabetes
• Types of Diabetes
• Managing Diabetes
• Researching and Curing Diabetes
• Symptoms and Signs of Diabetes
• Complications of Diabetes