User talk:RoodleDoodle

Stem Cell Treatments – Type 1 Diabetes


 * There are currently no consistently successful stem cell treatments for type 1 diabetes, though several are being developed. Because Type 1 is caused by the malfunction of the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas, located on the islets of Langerhans, treatments or cures are focused on the regeneration of these cells.  Research suggests that beta cells do not have their own (adult) stem cells.  However, stem cells generated from the patient’s own hematopoietic bone marrow cells have been used in an attempt to regrow the Islet cells in newly diagnosed patients (who may potentially still retain the ability to produce some insulin).  Ideally this would create stem cells and regenerated Islet cells that are genetically part of the patient, reducing the risk of graft-versus-host immune attack and the need for immune suppression.  The majority of patients treated were able to be insulin-independent for a prolonged, but finite length of time.  Embryonic stem cells have also been used to grow new beta cells that could be implanted into the patient. This could be particularly helpful in patients who have been insulin-dependent for an extended length of time – meaning their beta cells are almost certainly completely non-functional.  However, immune suppression would be necessary for the success of this treatment, as new beta cells grown from another organism’s embryonic stem cells would trigger an immune attack.  Mouse beta cells have been successfully grown from embryonic stem cells, but so far they have been unsuccessful in producing insulin.

'''Some more general thoughts for you: 1. internal wiki links to things like type I diabetes, etc. 2. you need citations. 3. You need to clarify the relationship between Islets of L. and beta cells. 4. What kinds of things have been done to reprogram a patient's hematopoietic bone marrow cells to make them have a beta cell phenotype? 5. I think you need to say more about the patients/experiments that hve been done with these cells -- is this a clinical trial? what kind of 'finite' time are we talking about....? 6. Have embryonic stem cell progeny been implanted yet? 7. Is there any info on using cord blood cells? 7. CITATIONS!! Digbymom (talk) 00:45, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

'''Hey Alexa! I didn't do much, just added a note about newly diagnosed patients, and fixed the symbol thing. yay!''' Rabbit6 (talk) 14:50, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

'''Here are some modifications I am considering making to the intro paragraph of the stem cell treatments page. It's not much, but might be a helpful addition'''RoodleDoodle (talk) 02:40, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Stem cell treatments are a type of cell therapy that introduce new cells into damaged tissue in order to treat a disease or injury. Many medical researchers believe that stem cell treatments have the potential to change the face of human disease and alleviate suffering. The ability of stem cells to self-renew and give rise to subsequent generations that can differentiate offers an large potential to culture tissues that can replace diseased and damaged tissues in the body, without the risk of rejection.

A number of stem cell treatments exist, although most are still experimental and/or costly, with the notable exception of bone marrow transplantation. Medical researchers anticipate one day being able to use technologies derived from adult and embryonic stem cell research to treat cancer, Type 1 diabetes mellitus, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, cardiac failure, muscle damage and neurological disorders, among others.

Stem cells play an important role in current research in developing new medical techniques. In one experimental method in regenerative medicine, stem cells are used to stimulate the growth of human tissues. In an adult, wounded tissue is most often replaced by scar tissue, which is characterized in the skin by disorganized collagen structure, loss of hair follicles and irregular vascular structure. In the case of wounded fetal tissue, however, wounded tissue is replaced with normal tissue through the activity of stem cells. A possible method for tissue regeneration in adults is to place adult stem cell "seeds" inside a tissue bed "soil" in a wound bed and allow the stem cells to stimulate differentiation in the tissue bed cells. This method elicits a regenerative response more similar to fetal wound-healing than adult scar tissue formation. Researchers are still investigating different aspects of the "soil" tissue that are conducive to regeneration.

More research is needed concerning both stem cell behavior and the mechanisms of the diseases they could be used to treat before most of these experimental treatments become realities.