SO… in order to get the pancreas producing insulin again – new beta cells are needed to replace the ones that have died off. When they die off, BTW, the body removes them – there is NO “dead pancreas” laying in the patient’s gut – it’s mostly fine and functional in most diabetics; but those endocrine beta cells are GONE. Pancreas transplants have been tried (mostly in T1s). But they’ve never worked long-term, though they’ve worked for a few years, even several years, for some folks. But transplants are a major surgical risk, and involve CONSTANT PERPETUAL immuno-suppressive drug therapy that puts the patient at risk for the rest of their life. AND… the reason it “stops working” is that despite the suppression of the immune system – it eventually succeeds in killing off the new beta cells, returning the patient to the T1 state, needing injected insulin to stay alive.
ความคิดเห็น