| Human trials begin for stem cell treatment, insulin access still limited |
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2016 has already seen its fair share of type 1 diabetes breakthroughs. Yet another one was reported on Friday as human trials began to assess if stem cell treatment could help people with type 1 diabetes come off insulin injections.
The stem cell technology, known as VC-01 therapy, has already proved successful in animal trials. It involves transplanting PEC-01 (insulin-producing) cells – contained in a drug delivery system – into people with type 1 diabetes.
These cells are protected in a capsule and remain protected from immune system attack. If human testing is successful, the treatment could be available in a matter of years.
Last month, another breakthrough occurred as Sue York, a 55-year-old type 1 diabetic, received a pancreas transplant due to a severe needle phobia. We received a high volume of questions asking if this meant Ms. York still had type 1 diabetes, so our man Kurt revealed what exactly the transplant means for Ms. York’s diabetes management.
A lot of promising research is being made in fighting type 1 diabetes, but thousands of people worldwide with type 1 diabetes still struggle to get regular access to insulin. According to a new report, insulin is prohibitively expensive in many lower-income countries, despite being listed as an essential medicine by the World Health Organisation (WHO) since 2007.
The situation is not dissimilar in the US, where Eli Lilly’s price of insulin is more expensive than before. We asked “what is the price of profit?”, as American people with diabetes continually struggle to afford a medication to simply keep them alive.
This week also saw childhood obesity declared as a "national emergency" according to health secretary Jeremy Hunt, who revealed his concern about the rising obesity and type 2 diabetes rates in the UK.
Hunt added that a sugar tax is not off the table as the government prepares to launch its childhood obesity strategy. He told the BBC: “We have got to do something about this. I’ve got a one-year-old daughter, and by the time she reaches adulthood a third of the population will be clinically obese. One in 10 will have type 2 diabetes. It is a national emergency."
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