New research is revealing that cells passed from mother to child during pregnancy could be used to treat diabetes. Scientists found these cells can develop into functioning islet beta cells which produce insulin in the pancreas.

Scientists studied 172 individuals and took pancreatic tissue from four deceased males. They found small numbers of female islet beta cells able to produce insulin. There was no evidence the mother's cells were causing damage or becoming the target of an immune response. However, the team found more maternal DNA in the blood of children and young adults with type 1 diabetes than in healthy individuals. Researchers believe the maternal cells may be helping to regenerate tissue in the pancreas.

I heard about this study last year. It sounded quite promising and led me to wonder if I had a child - could the stem cells from the umbilical cord become healthy beta cells for me? Sure. However, the big question still remains - how can I stop the killer Ts from spanking my islets in the first place?

Shannon Lewis, whose little boy Brendon was diagnosed with diabetes while still a toddler, blogs Mom Wants A Diabetes Cure ... pure and simple. In a recent post, she shared the moment of realization of what she needed to do to be the mother Brendon needed her to be.

Shannon did all the rights things that mothers do when they are pregnant and avoided all the things mothers are supposed to avoid when they share the same heartbeat with another human being, sustaining their life until they enter the world and can sustain life on their own.

When your baby is born, you listen for the cry. Then you check the fingers and toes. Then you wait while the doctor and nurses run your newborn through a quick series of tests. Brendon was born with all his fingers and toes, and he aced the APGAR. Brendon was home-free to the beginning of a healthy life. Shannon's efforts during her pregnancy to be healthy for both herself and her baby had served them well.

Two and a half years later, Brendon lay on a gurney in the ER, limp, seemingly lifeless, with shallow breath and sallow skin. What had gone wrong to such a perfect beginning for Brendon? He was diagnosed with diabetes and Shannon's idealistic concept of motherhood and her child's health became forever altered. She writes poignantly about the threshold from one reality to the next and touches your heart in the passage. It's a must-read post for all mothers.

Kerri Morrone, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was six years old, blogs the typical life issues of a bright and full of light twentysomething woman at Six Until Me. The blog tagline reads diabetes doesn't define me but it helps explain me. And the blog is true to the tagline in posts that are filled with a daily life where diabetes is never far away.

Bloggers begin blogging for a number of reasons. Morrone began blogging as a means of creating an online community for herself with other diabetics. As she tells it, one spring afternoon, she goggled diabetes looking for the personal voices in the world speaking out, reaching out, and connecting to others who understood on an intimate level what it means to be diabetic. She found them blogging. Morrone has a delightfully engaging way with words and is a natural-born storyteller. The better blog seems to invite you in with a comforting welcome that makes it easy to stay awhile and come back often. Six Until Me is a better blog.