Another Study Showing Adult Stem Cells Get Newly Diagnosed Diabetics Off of Insulin

Great news: We have previously had human trials in which patients were weaned off of insulin with adult stem cells. Now, another study with newly diagnosed diabetes patients has achieved a similar success: And, it is written up in the Journal of the American Medical Association. From the abstract:

During a 7- to 58-month follow-up (mean, 29.8 months; median, 30 months), 20 patients without previous ketoacidosis and not receiving corticosteroids during the preparative regimen became insulin free. Twelve patients maintained this status for a mean 31 months (range, 14-52 months) and 8 patients relapsed and resumed insulin use at low dose (0.1-0.3 IU/kg)…Two patients developed bilateral nosocomial pneumonia, 3 patients developed late endocrine dysfunction, and 9 patients developed oligospermia. There was no mortality.

Conclusion After a mean follow-up of 29.8 months following autologous nonmyeloablative HSCT in patients with newly diagnosed type 1 DM, C-peptide levels increased significantly and the majority of patients achieved insulin independence with good glycemic control.

We know that if this were an embryonic stem cell success, the headlines would swamp reportage of the financial crisis. But this is the wrong kind of stem cell success, so I expect, at most, muted coverage. I’ll keep an eye on how the media deal with (or ignore) this important breakthrough and report back tomorrow.