Volume 9, Issue 2 Summary <\/p>\n
In patients with type 1 diabetes, pancreatic beta cells self-destruct, leaving the body bereft of insulin. Yasuhiro Ikeda, D.V.M., Ph.D., is working to create a customizable gene and stem cell therapy system that will arrest the loss of these beta cells possibly permanently eliminating the need for insulin injections. <\/p>\n
Yasuhiro Ikeda, D.V.M., Ph.D., is spearheading stem cell research in the Mayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Medicine. <\/p>\n
Nearly everyone knows someone with diabetes it's hard not to. In the United States, 1 in 3 adults and 1 in 6 children have high blood sugar, according to the National Institutes of Health. <\/p>\n
After you eat, glucose is absorbed into your bloodstream and carried throughout your body. Insulin a hormone made by beta cells in your pancreas then signals your cells to take up glucose, helping your body turn the food into energy. <\/p>\n
With diabetes, this process can go wrong in two basic ways:Type 1 diabetes results from the body's failure to produce insulin;type 2 diabetes occurs when there's plenty of insulin but the cells lose their ability to perceive its signal. In both cases, cells starve. <\/p>\n
Living well with diabetes requires a lifelong commitment to monitoring blood sugar, eating properly, exercising regularly and maintaining a healthy weight. People with type 1 diabetes must also rely on insulin replacement therapy, usually through insulin injections. People with type 2 diabetes might need oral medication. <\/p>\n
Still, every year, diabetes kills about 70,000 people in the United States and is a contributing cause in another 160,000 deaths each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. <\/p>\n
Yasuhiro Ikeda, D.V.M., Ph.D., a molecular biologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., wants to change that. <\/p>\n
After beginning his career as a veterinary feline specialist, Dr. Ikeda had to change course when he developed an allergy to his four-legged patients that made it impossible to be in a room with them. He turned his attention toward research and discovered that his interest in molecular virology had human as well as feline applications. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Read more: Volume 9, Issue 2 Summary In patients with type 1 diabetes, pancreatic beta cells self-destruct, leaving the body bereft of insulin. Continue reading
\nGene therapy and regenerative medicine lend hope to ...<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"