The pilot study, made on its first patient a month ago, seeks to discover methods to prevent the onset of diabetes for persons whose pancreas was removed due to pancreatitis, trauma, cancer or tumors.
It could also help stem cell research and finding a cure for Types 1 and 2 diabetes.
Dr. Craig Fischer, leader of the research team, told the Houston Chronicle, "We're very early in the process, but I'm confident this work is going to prove effective... It may sound wild to the layperson, but it's actually very logical."
The subject of the pilot study is Wanda Prouty, a 55-year old Texas resident. The islets from her pancreas, which secrete insulin to balance sugar level in her blood, were enhanced in a laboratory and re-implanted in her body. Initial findings showed that the islets injected in Prouty's forearm were producing insulin.
The medical procedure would benefit 4,000 patients each year in the U.S. whose have their pancreas surgically removed.
Recently, the hospital also participated in another experiment which compared results of treating diabetic patients with laser therapy or corticosteroid injections. The study, financed by the National Eye Institute, showed that laser therapy is more effective than the corticosteroid injections in the long term treatment of diabetic macular edema.
The results of this study will come out in the September issue of the Ophthalmology Journal.
