Introduction
Collection of various ailments often associated with high blood glucose level is known as Diabetes mellitus. Mainly because the glands fail to secrete and produce insulin or sometimes the insulin is not effective on cells. Polydipsia, polyphagia, polyuria are the most common indications of Diabetes mellitus. It's commonly divided in to two categories Insulin dependent diabetes mellitus/juvenile diabetes/type 1 diabetes in this type body fails to produce insulin and body needs foreign insulin affects mostly youngsters and children body fails to recognize its own cells from the pancreas known as islets cells. Non insulin independent diabetes mellitus/ adult onset/ type 2 diabetes in this type the body develops resistance against insulin so even if insulin produced it wouldn't help the body to maintain glucose level affects the elderly, weak, obese and mature people. After the discovery of insulin in 1921 diabetes is treatable but not curable, however diabetes mellitus type 1 had been tried to be cured by pancreas transplant. Outcomes of diabetes are high blood pressure; degeneracy of organs, cardiac failures, renal failures, paralysis, obesity etc. 2.8% of the world population suffers from diabetes according to a survey made in 2000. Every year the number of people that die by diabetes is greater than the sum of number of people dying from both breast cancer and AIDS.
Diabetes Treatment
• Curative treatment for diabetes include pancreas transplant. Anti-diabetic medicines such as metformin, sulfonylurea, Byetta (replica of human incretin hormone), Pargluva etc are given to control diabetes; insulin treatment is done for lowering blood glucose level, insulin intake at regular intervals is must for the insulin therapy as the body can't produce its own insulin so foreign insulin is given to the body.
• Recently doctors attempted to cure diabetes by incorporating diabetics with cells from islets, pancreatic cells that produce insulin are known as islets. To make this treatment successful immunosuppressant therapy is done to inhibit the cells from rejecting the islets cells, the immunosuppressant steroids require high level of insulin the islet cells will eventually fatigue producing no more insulin for the body and the body comes back to the original diseased situation. Islets transplants carried out up till now have however proved to be successful.
• Pancreatic transplant is done to the patients suffering from diabetes type 1, this whole organ transplant requires strong drug treatment to prevent the immune system from rejecting organ transplant but those drugs have very false effects on the body on higher alarming level than diabetes. So carry organ transplant is only done in those patients who suffer from renal failure because these strong drugs have to be given in renal transplant so side effects can't be avoided. Moreover the number of diabetics in the world is increasing day by day so the transplant donors are limited. Hence this therapy can't be carried out on large scale.
• Scientists are thinking of using stem cell therapy to cure diabetes, as stem cells can be used to produce any kinds of cells as they reproduce themselves, automated reproduction. But the question arise which cells to be produced? Whether to produce beta cells only or islets cell too. Studies show that beta cells are less responsive to the glucose changes in the body so alone none of the cells show positive feedback. Scientists think that if all of these cells can be cultured it will be a breakthrough in the treatment of diabetes.
• Foetal cells may be used in future to produce islets cells as they have purified pancreas high level of insulin and best mechanism so it'll be easier to graft them and produce islets cells as they reproduce at fast pace. However scientists found it as practically unaccomplished task to culture the progenitor cells of islets in culture.
• Insulin inhalers are most recent breakthrough in the treatment of diabetes, it'll deliver insulin in powder form but there's a risk for patients to develop asthma. AAA is also another treatment for diabetes.
• Vaccines for diabetes type 1 are also under study hopefully in future we'll vaccine for diabetes with the advancement in therapeutic biology.
Summary
Stem cell therapy, organ transplant, vaccines, use of foetal cells for the production of islets cells, inhalers, anti-diabetics and many more therapeutics will be available for the prevention, cure and treatment of diabetes to lower the blood glucose level. Biology is a marvellous and vast subject and researchers are researching day and night to find a way out of diabetes as it's the world's 7th death causing disease.
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