Note: The contents of this blog are for informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice or substitute for professional care. For medical emergencies, dial 911!
Posts with tag advances in medicine
Posted Apr 18th 2007 3:23PM by Allie Beatty
Filed under: Type 1, Childhood, Adult Onset, Drugs, Research, Support
Living Cell Technologies has been given the go ahead to conduct clinical trials of its DiabeCell diabetes product in New Zealand.
DiabeCell is a porcine islet cell product for the treatment of insulin- dependent diabetes. The pig cells are injected into the body without any immunosuppressant drugs. The cells produce insulin to help regulate blood glucose levels appropriate to the amount of glucose detected in the blood stream of the diabetic recipient.
The Medical Director of Living Cell Technologies explains that DiabeCell offers considerable advantages over other available treatments in addition to the fact there is no need for immuno-suppressive drugs. Anther problem of islet transplants is the strain on the supply of islets. This is not a problem with the DiabeCell because their supply of cells derive from natural biocertified pig herds, unlike human organ donors.
LCT's application is to conduct the clinical trial of its DiabeCell product on 8 long standing Type 1 diabetics. The clinical trial is expected to be approximately 12 months in duration. This will then be followed by a trial on a larger scale. The trial will be conducted at a New Zealand hospital and involves the simple injection of encapsulated islets into the abdomen of the diabetic patients. It is anticipated that the trial would start by the end of 2007.
Posted Dec 11th 2006 10:08AM by Allie Beatty
Filed under: Type 1, Childhood, Events, Products, Support
Join Dr. Aaron Kowalski for a live chat on the Artificial Pancreas Project, December 12 at 9pm Eastern Standard Time. Thanks to Gina Capone of Diabetes Talkfest, you will have a chance to ask questions and learn more about this tremendous project poised to revolutionize diabetes management.
Dr. Kowalski and his brother Stephen have lived with type 1 diabetes for the greater part of their lives. Visit YouTube® to view a 10 minute presentation Dr. Kowalski gave, where he shares his personal story on the tough issues diabetes has raised in his life. He describes how his brother's hypoglycemic unawareness impacted his daily life for the past 30 years and Kowalski explains how an artificial pancreas would benefit people with type 1 diabetes.
Managing diabetes is a full time job. Emotions need not apply. In a perfect world, your job is to keep your blood sugars in the range of 80 to 120 always. There is no exception to this rule. We all know abiding this law is nearly impossible because we are not machines. A device programmed to enforce this policy and arrest sugars precariously trending out of this range is exactly what we need to oversee our safe existence. The YouTube video is a great appetizer to the live chat. I hope you all can attend Tuesday night on Diabetes Talkfest. See you there!
