New Study Shows Cord Blood Stem Cells May Treat Type 1 Diabetes

A newly published clinical trial result reports treating Type 1 diabetics T-Cells with umbilical cord blood stem cells helped restart pancreatic function and insulin production.  The process is called “re-education” as the newly introduced T-Cells improved the behavior of the patients own T-Cells.

The study recruited 15 Type 1 diabetic patients, twelve of which had the treatment with three in the control group.  In the study the 12 participants had their T-Cells – which had been separated from their blood – pumped into a device named the “stem cell educator”.  There the patients stem cells were exposed to the cord blood stem cells for three hours.  Then the stem cells are pumped back into the participants’ blood.

The study showed that the patients who could not create their own insulin prior to the treatment were able to create insulin after the treatment.  One year after the study those patients who received the treatment continued to manufacture some of their own insulin with eight of the patients reducing insulin usage by 38%.