Treatment to End Jabs for Insulin on the Way

By LINDA SUMMERHAYES Health Reporter

A REVOLUTIONARY treatment for diabetes which promises to end the need for patients to inject themselves with insulin could be available in Edinburgh within the year.

The treatment involves the removal of insulin-producing cells from the pancreas of a donor being injected into a patient’s liver.

It is thought the new treatment would be beneficial to people with the most severe form of diabetes, Type 1.

Surgeons in the Capital are looking for funding to staff a unit 24 hours a day where the “islet” cells from the pancreas could be harvested from donor organs for transplantation.

John Casey, a consultant transplant surgeon at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, said: “The complex thing is the laboratory preparation of the islet cells.

“The transplant process is much easier than a transplant of a kidney or a pancreas because it’s done under local anaesthetic where the cells are infused by dripping them into the liver by a needle.

“There can still be complications but the procedure is much more simple than any other form of transplant.

“If the money was in place, we are talking about introducing this in the next year.

“There’s no doubt that it can happen quickly if the unit is staffed and funded. It’s certainly something we can do.”

Diabetics are unable to break down blood sugar as their body cannot produce enough of the hormone insulin.

Those who have Type 1 diabetes are unable to produce insulin at all and must inject the hormone between two and four times a day.

There are approximately 4300 people with Type 1 diabetes in the Lothians and almost 26,800 across Scotland.

The cell transplant treatment would be ideal for those who have Type 1 diabetes and have difficulty in controlling their blood sugar levels.

If blood sugar levels get too low, it can trigger a life threatening condition known as hypoglycaemia which can lead to diabetics falling into a coma.

Four successful transplants have also been carried out by doctors in England.

Worldwide, around 400 patients have received cell transplants and 80 per cent of those no longer needed insulin within a year of the operation. However, patients do have to continue to take drugs to stop the body from rejecting the transplant.

Mr Casey would not say how much money the transplant unit would require before the treatment could be offered to patients, but he did say that each procedure cost in the region of GBP 5000.

Arnold Eighteen, a member of the Edinburgh Voluntary Group of Diabetes UK , said: “This is the most exciting thing to happen to diabetes research for years.

“If someone has poor control of their condition, it can be horrendous. If they become hypoglycaemic, it can be very, very dangerous.

“This offers tremendous hope for the future.”

And he added: “It could make a radical difference to people, which is very, very exciting.”

The development will be discussed in greater detail at the group’s annual seminar at the city’s MacDonald Holyrood Hotel on Saturday.

There will be workshops on controlling diabetes with diet and blood glucose monitoring, and information about hypoglycaemia will also be discussed.

Seminar tickets cost GBP 10 and are available by calling Martin Maxwell on 0131 332 2604.