Bone marrow stem cells and diabetes

The prevalence of diabetes has been growing and the aim of finding a cure or a treatment has become more effective and increasingly important. Ongoing research since the turn of the century has shown that injecting diabetic mice with bone marrow stem cells, the stem cells were able to restore function of damaged tissue.
benefits of stem cell research
The results are very interesting both for researchers and those suffering from diabetes. Trials are expected to continuous research and possibly provide effective treatments to the public.

Bone Marrow Stem Cells and Type I and II Diabetes

Diabetes simply refers to a condition whereby the body can not produce the hormone insulin. In type I diabetes, the pancreas does not produce enough insulin to keep blood sugar within its preferred range. While in type II diabetes, albeit abnormally, insulin production usually occurs - but the body's cells can not properly use the hormone to regulate sugar.

Diabetics may be insulin dependent, requiring daily doses of insulin to balance their food intake, or they may be able to control their disease with diet and exercise, but the complications are enormous ranging from circulatory, nerve and heart disease to blindness. And also, the daily challenge of control lifestyle and treatment with insulin when needed may be mentally and physically exhausting for the patients.

According to studies, when stem cells were injected into the bloodstream of diabetic mice, the stem cells found their way to the damaged pancreas and were able to drive the growth of new cells. Something in the bone marrow somehow activates cell regeneration.
The symptoms of diabetes was reversed within two weeks of the mice that received injections of bone marrow stem cells. Injected stem cells triggered the production of cells in the pancreas of the recipient.

Another benefit of using stem cells from bone marrow or bone marrow stem calls can be harvested from the patient's own bone marrow, grown in the lab environment and then injected into the patient, where they can travel to the damaged pancreas and stimulate cell growth.
This helps solve the issue about immune rejection, wherein the body recognizes the injected cells as foreign and launches an attack.

Since research and trials literally takes too long before a new drug becomes available in the market, assuming that the tests are successful, it will also took sometime before bone marrow stem cells would be available to cure diabetes. However, research still gives hope that we may one day find a cure for diabetes.