Canada first tested for diabetes with stem cells

Scientists at the University of British Columbia in Canada recently tested a method for treating type 1 diabetes with stem cell transplantation for patients.

The first patient to receive this treatment was Joshua Robertson, a Vancouver resident.

Reporters in Canada said Robertson patients had implanted 3 thin stem cell bags into the lower abdomen skin in December 2017.

This new method will reverse the way to treat type 1 diabetes.

Doctors hope that after being put into a patient's body, stem cells act like pancreatic cells and produce insulin that helps regulate blood sugar.

Robertson is one of 40 patients in the US and Canada who are testing new treatments under the project of San Diego-based ViaCyte biotech company (USA).

According to the treatment regimen, researchers will have to closely monitor patients for 2 years to see if stem cells produce insulin themselves. Typically, patients with type 1 diabetes will have to inject 4-8 insulin tubes daily.

Previously, researchers have done some experiments in mice that are aimed at feeding stem cells into pancreatic cells to reduce the need for body insulin injections.

Dr. David Thompson of the Vancouver General Hospital Diabetes Center said that if a study in humans showed similar results, this new method would reverse the way to treat type 1 diabetes.

However, because the testing process has only just begun, all risks can still occur. In order to prevent the body's immune system from attacking transplanted cells, patients are given medicine to prevent rejection.

However, this drug has the side effect of reducing the immune system, making the body more susceptible to infection and after 5 years of taking the drug there is a higher risk of cancer than normal people.

To balance the risks and benefits of the new treatment, the researchers decided to take the test in patients with very severe type 1 diabetes and a high risk of complications.

After transplanting stem cells, patients were closely monitored for the first 4 days so that doctors could promptly handle side effects such as burning pain in the abdomen, increased heart rate and blood pressure.

Although faced with risks and discomfort but for Robertson, this is still a valuable test if the results obtained will help researchers get closer to definitive treatments. Type 1 diabetes.

Currently in Canada there are about 300,000 patients with type 1 diabetes, a disease that causes immune system disorders and the inability to produce insulin that regulates blood sugar.

If not detected and treated promptly, patients with type 1 diabetes will be at risk for blindness, myocardial infarction, stroke, kidney and nerve dysfunction.