By Beverleigh H Piepers
There are times when Type 1 diabetics become less responsive, or even worse, totally unresponsive to the external administration of insulin. What does this mean? It means the insulin administered via injection no longer reduces the blood sugar to a safe level. If you also have this problem, don't get depressed. It is not the end of your world. Medical professionals and scientists have produced another treatment option for Type 1 diabetics who are dealing with this problem.
Heard about the pancreatic islet transplantation? This is a surgical procedure in its experimental state. Pancreatic islets are the producers of insulin within your body. Insulin is a special hormone that facilitates the transport of energy in the form of sugar across your cell membranes for utilization. However, in people with Type 1 diabetes, this function of the beta cells of the pancreas is lost, resulting in the need for external insulin administration.
In this type of procedure, pancreatic islets are extracted from a deceased donor. They are purified and processed then transferred to the person needing a fresh set of insulin producers. Once successfully transplanted, these cells begin producing insulin therefore eliminating the need for insulin injections.
Benefits of pancreatic islet transplantation:
* improved blood sugar control. One of the best results of successful pancreatic islet transplantation is the improvement of blood sugar control. Imagine not giving yourself those insulin injections again. Wouldn't that be just great? It will be a totally new freedom for you
* no more dangerous episodes of hypoglycemia. If you are giving yourself regular insulin injections, hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) may potentially happen when you skip your meal or have a more intense physical activity than you usually do. With pancreatic islet transplantation, you do not need to fear these hypoglycemic episodes
* prevention of the complications of diabetes. Proper control of your blood sugar through the benefit of pancreatic islet transplantation, may decrease or prevent the onset of diabetes complications such as heart diseases, stroke, renal problems, eye damage and nerve damage
Risks associated with pancreatic islet transplantation:
* intra-operative complications. Complications during the surgical procedure may occur. These could include bleeding and blood clots which may be potentially life-threatening if not managed promptly and properly
* the lifetime use of immunosuppressive drugs. Successful transplantation of any organ entails the lifetime use of immunosuppressive medications because of the possibility of transplant rejection... according to the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse. However, with the use of immunosuppressive medications, resistance against opportunistic disease-causing microorganisms may lower, leading to the possible development of infectious diseases. Rejection is always a huge problem with the transplant of any organ as our immune system is geared to destroy not only viruses and bacteria, but anything that it recognizes as being foreign. In this case that would be the transplanted pancreatic islets. So immunosuppressive drugs would be needed to keep the transplanted islets functioning as they are meant to.
There are times when Type 1 diabetics become less responsive, or even worse, totally unresponsive to the external administration of insulin. What does this mean? It means the insulin administered via injection no longer reduces the blood sugar to a safe level. If you also have this problem, don't get depressed. It is not the end of your world. Medical professionals and scientists have produced another treatment option for Type 1 diabetics who are dealing with this problem.
Heard about the pancreatic islet transplantation? This is a surgical procedure in its experimental state. Pancreatic islets are the producers of insulin within your body. Insulin is a special hormone that facilitates the transport of energy in the form of sugar across your cell membranes for utilization. However, in people with Type 1 diabetes, this function of the beta cells of the pancreas is lost, resulting in the need for external insulin administration.
In this type of procedure, pancreatic islets are extracted from a deceased donor. They are purified and processed then transferred to the person needing a fresh set of insulin producers. Once successfully transplanted, these cells begin producing insulin therefore eliminating the need for insulin injections.
Benefits of pancreatic islet transplantation:
* improved blood sugar control. One of the best results of successful pancreatic islet transplantation is the improvement of blood sugar control. Imagine not giving yourself those insulin injections again. Wouldn't that be just great? It will be a totally new freedom for you
* no more dangerous episodes of hypoglycemia. If you are giving yourself regular insulin injections, hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) may potentially happen when you skip your meal or have a more intense physical activity than you usually do. With pancreatic islet transplantation, you do not need to fear these hypoglycemic episodes
* prevention of the complications of diabetes. Proper control of your blood sugar through the benefit of pancreatic islet transplantation, may decrease or prevent the onset of diabetes complications such as heart diseases, stroke, renal problems, eye damage and nerve damage
Risks associated with pancreatic islet transplantation:
* intra-operative complications. Complications during the surgical procedure may occur. These could include bleeding and blood clots which may be potentially life-threatening if not managed promptly and properly
* the lifetime use of immunosuppressive drugs. Successful transplantation of any organ entails the lifetime use of immunosuppressive medications because of the possibility of transplant rejection... according to the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse. However, with the use of immunosuppressive medications, resistance against opportunistic disease-causing microorganisms may lower, leading to the possible development of infectious diseases. Rejection is always a huge problem with the transplant of any organ as our immune system is geared to destroy not only viruses and bacteria, but anything that it recognizes as being foreign. In this case that would be the transplanted pancreatic islets. So immunosuppressive drugs would be needed to keep the transplanted islets functioning as they are meant to.
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