A final cure in sight
Growing Beta cells
Although the discovery of insulin allows a treatment for diabetes, it does not cure it. Besides this, patients rely solely on insulin to stay alive. Another way to treat Diabetes type 1, is by an islet transplantation in which the insulin producing cells from the pancreas of a donor are transplanted in a patient, thereby restoring their insulin production. However, a downside of this technique is the fact that patients rely on donor material which is in most of the cases not available and patients rely on immunosuppressives to prevent their immune system from attacking the transplanted cells.
To solve this, new therapies are being developed, such as stem cell therapy, which could treat and potentially cure diabetes. It aims to restore the insulin-producing cells using the cells from the patients themselves and subsequently inducing these cells to become fully functional insulin producing cells that evade the immune system. Recent clinical trials have already shown potential for full remission
The discovery of insulin was a huge milestone in the history of diabetes. Banting had hoped that the treatment would save people worldwide, but in reality, this product, like many other therapies nowadays, were not and still are not equally accessible due to social and economic inequalities brought about by colonialism and the commercialization of medicine. Perhaps in the future the Dutch Diabetes Association will again be gifted a small box with a new milestone treatment that is more ethically responsible and accessible for all diabetes patients. We are curious to see what the future celebratory box will contain?