Diabetes test under way at Christ
By Peggy O'Farrell • pofarrell@enquirer.
Jim DeMarsh couldn't figure out why he was always thirsty.
"I was drinking three or four gallons of fluids a day, and I was still thirsty," he said.
In December, he found out why: The 26-year-old was diagnosed with Type 1, or juvenile, diabetes.
Now, DeMarsh is part of a national clinical trial looking at an option that could at least reduce his need for insulin and, one day, maybe cure the diabetes.
DeMarsh, of Traverse City, Mich., was the first patient enrolled through Christ Hospital testing the effectiveness of adult stem cells to treat Type 1 diabetes.
The Mount Auburn hospital is one of several centers in the U.S. testing Prochymal, an experimental medication designed to repair the pancreas and preserve insulin production in patients newly diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.
In Type 1 diabetes, the body's immune system attacks the pancreas, destroying its ability to produce insulin. Insulin is a hormone that helps the body regulate blood sugar.
Poorly controlled diabetes can lead to serious health conditions, including kidney failure, heart disease, stroke, blindness, amputation and nerve damage.
The hope is that Prochymal, which contains adult stem cells, will help restore the pancreas' ability to produce insulin, said Dean Kereiakes, medical director of the Lindner Research Center at Christ Hospital and principal investigator of the study.
"This novel application of adult stem cell technology has the promise of pancreatic repair and the potential cure of Type 1 diabetes," Kereiakes said.
About 24 million Americans have diabetes, including an estimated 3 million with Type 1 diabetes. In 2006, diabetes was the seventh-leading cause of death in the U.S., though experts think that it is widely underreported on death certificates.
Patients enrolled in the trial will receive three doses of either the medication or a placebo.
DeMarsh doesn't know if he received the medication.
He uses two types of insulin to control his blood sugar and checks his blood sugar levels four or five times a day.
The trial is open to adults 18 to 30 who have been diagnosed within the past two to 16 weeks with Type 1 diabetes. For more information, call the Lindner Center at 513-585-1777.http://news.
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StemCells subscribers may also be interested in these sites:
Children's Neurobiological Solutions
http://www.CNSfoundation.org/
Cord Blood Registry
http://www.CordBlood.com/at.cgi?a=150123
The CNS Healing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNS_Healing
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