The Hope for Diabetes Cure from Bone Marrow Stem Cells

Diabetes is a chronic disease that affects about 200 million people across the globe. According to the World Health Organization, the countries that have the most alarming number of diabetics are India, China, and America. Diabetes happens when the pancreas, the organ that regulates the hormones in the blood, does not produce sufficient amount of insulin for the body, or when the body can not effectively use the insulin that it produces.
Therapeutic cloning

There are three types of diabetes: Type 1, Type 2, and Gestational. Type 1 diabetes is characterized by the body's inability to produce enough insulin, and this case is common in children. Type 2 diabetes is caused by the body's defect in using the insulin produced, while gestational diabetes is the type that strikes pregnant women.

Because of the severity of the effects of diabetes, which include neuropathy, amputations, and kidney disease, researchers and scientists have been pressured to look for possible cures for the disease. The recent prospective cure has been generated from laboratories, and used an expensive component in the bones of humans - bone marrow stem cells.

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Research for Diabetes Cure

The effectiveness of bone marrow stem cells in curing diabetes has been tested firstly on mice. In studies in Canada and the United States, it was found that diabetes in mice can be cured by bone marrow stem cells.
Researchers did the experiment by injecting the cells to the bloodstream of the diabetic mice, and they discovered that the cells found their way to the damaged pancreas and were able to regenerate.
Since stem cells are premature cells, they have the capacity to regenerate and form different types of cells. Thus, the result of the study on bone marrow stem cells was a big hope for diabetes sufferers and scientists alike.

A more surprising result of the study was that the growth of new cells started in the pancreas itself and not by the injected cells themselves. After the experiment, the researchers found that the insulin level of the subject mice was raised and their high blood sugar levels were reduced to almost normal. Furthermore, when the same test was administered to non-diabetic mice, there was no change observed.

Even though researchers have found a high potential on bone marrow stem cells in curing diabetes, it has yet to be tested for a long time. The initial test on mice has been successful, but the prospect has to undergo more trials and has to prove more of what it can do. For now, we only have to hope the real cure has been discovered.