Diabetes may have treatment via Insulin-stimulating stem cells

In the hot-topic area of stem cell research, sufferers of diabetes may have hope one day of producing insulin themselves. In a recent study conducted on mice, human stem cells not only repaired insulin-producing cells but also repaired cells damaged kidneys in those same mice.

Obesity is such an increasing lifestyle these days and due to this, type-2 diabetes is ever more prevalent here in the United States. At the same time, the debate rages on regarding the use of stem cells as therapeutic devices that can help those suffering from a myriad arrangement of ailments.

Dr. Darwin Prockop from Tulane University said of this new research, "We're calling them adult stem or progenitor cells. They're not quite entirely stem cells but close to it ... they have a remarkable ability to heal tissues." Dr. Prockup stated this in reference to the study while noting that there are about eight million people in the U.S. suffering from diabetes and kidney damage with nothing on the horizon in the area of treatment.