NYT on stem cell trials for islet restoration

Don’t instantly knock all immunosuppressants or transplants as off-the-table forever. Sure I’ve had way too many health care professionals assure me in the past half century that “the cure is only 5 years away” and I’m uber-cynical as a result BUT someday it’ll happen for someone.

I’m already a transplant recipient (cornea transplant for Fuch’s dystrophy, non-D related) and while that is a very trivial case where the immunosuppresants can be delivered specifically to the foreign tissue, and the drugs used do require some management, it’s not a big deal. My wife has had rheumatoid arthritis for decades and again targetted immunosuppressant drugs have often been part of the treatment for that.

Visiting the doc every few months for checkups related to these specialized (and not cheap) drugs is quite a bit different than taking insulin many times every day which we regulate ourselves on a 24x7 basis. I happen to be really good at adjusting my insulin for normal bg’s (not as good as some others here who frequently boast about flatlining) but others are not so lucky.

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