Diabetes procedure fails test of time

September 28, 2006

EDMONTON, AB, Canada (UPI) -- A University of Alberta, Canada, study has found that transplants of insulin-making cells are not as effective against diabetes as early results suggested.

University of Alberta researchers, who also developed the procedure, said the Edmonton protocol initially freed Type 1 diabetes patients from insulin shots, but the effects wore off for 86 percent of the patients within two years, The New York Times reported Thursday.

The study, which involved 36 patients at nine locations in the United States, Canada and Europe, followed a smaller trial in 2000 that followed the patients for only 14 months. After the report was published, many of the patients went back to needing the shots.

Study leader A.M. James Shapiro said researchers were seeking new drug combinations to improve the longevity of the procedure`s results.

The cell transplant involves a tube inserted by doctors into a patient`s abdomen that drips the cells into the liver. The cells then enter and occupy the patient`s tiny blood vessels.

Copyright © 2006 by United Press International.

This article posted October 11, 2006.