Pioneering islet cell transplants again offer diabetes hope

A handful of diabetics in the UK are currently undergoing pioneering islet cell transplantation treatment. The treatment in theory banishes the need for insulin dependency amongst type 1 diabetics, allowing them to live a life without injections.
The technique remains very niche unfortunately, but as many as 80 per cent of type 1 diabetics could have their lives permanently transformed by the procedure. The future could see all of the 250,000 type 1 diabetics in the UK free of the need to inject insulin.
A consortium of specialists from around the UK are urging the National Health Service to fund the treatment of patients in this way, making Britain a driving force in this field. The consortium is trying to get the NHS to fund six hospitals throughout the UK to provide the treatment.
One expert in this field, Dr. James Shaw of Newcastle University, reportedly commented: “It’s make-or-break time for islet cell transplantation in the UK. If it doesn’t get funding it’s impossible to see how anyone else can be transplanted because there isn’t any money otherwise.”