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[–] 116 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (26 children)

How the Therapy Works

The process involves regenerative medicine, utilizing the patient's own body's capabilities to treat the illness.

Cell Extraction: A small sample of cells (e.g., fat cells or blood cells) is taken from the patient. Reprogramming: These cells are chemically treated in a lab to revert them to a pluripotent state, meaning they can develop into any type of cell.

Differentiation and Transplantation: The stem cells are then guided to become functional, insulin-producing islet cells. These new cells are then transplanted back into the patient's abdominal area.

Restored Function: Once implanted, the cells engraft and begin producing insulin naturally in response to blood glucose levels, effectively restoring the body's natural ability to regulate blood sugar.

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  • [–] 29 points 9 months ago (5 children)

    That doesn't make sense for type 2. This is exactly how they've been trialing treatment of type 1, they just announced it a few months ago I think it was Stanford and Toronto

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  • [–] 2 points 9 months ago (4 children)

    Insulin producing cells die off in type 2 after years of being bombarded with sugar in the US diet.

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  • [–] 1 point 9 months ago (3 children)

    It's important to make clear that "sugar" in this context includes simple carbohydrates.

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  • [–] 19 points 9 months ago (13 children)

    I wonder if the US diabetic population is comparable to the Chinese diabetic population. Similar weight and eating habits? If not that could complicate things.

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  • [–] 40 points 9 months ago (11 children)

    Rate of diabetes in China “explosive”

    China has the world's largest diabetes population, with over 118 million adults (approx. 11–12% prevalence) living with the disease as of late 2024–2025, driven by rapid urbanization, obesity, and an aging population. The epidemic has shifted dramatically from less than 1% prevalence in 1980 to a major public health challenge, with type 2 diabetes accounting for over 90% of cases

    This is a consistent pattern in Chinese domestic politics. What a western nation would pick out as a profit center, the Chinese state addresses as a social cost. So the state plows a small fortune into cost-effective medical solutions, rather than squeezing the existing health care system out for therapeutic remedies that never resolve the root problem.

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  • [–] 9 points 9 months ago (6 children)

    This is a consistent pattern in Chinese domestic politics

    What are other examples?

    It should be noted that this treatment sounds likely to be very expensive, and also if someone doesn't change their lifestyle, the newly implanted functional cells are likely to become dysfunctional again over time, requiring another expensive cycle of treatment

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  • [–] 12 points 9 months ago (2 children)

    What are other examples?

    Environmental policy was a big one. China took a hard pivot in the '00s, cutting emissions, advancing alternative energy, reforesting deserts, rapidly advancing HSR, building enormous wild life refugees.

    Their insourcing of processors was another. Going from Taiwan's biggest customer to it's biggest competitor in a decade and change.

    Then there was the housing boom - remember "Chinese Ghost Towns"? All over the news in the early '10s. Now China has more homeowners than any other county on Earth with more than 90% of households owning at least one property.

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  • [–] 1 point 9 months ago* (1 child)

    i've never understood how anyone could think the "ghost towns" wouldn't obviously be filled shortly. One of the most significant facts about China is that they have a stupendously massive population, and consider Boston a quaint medium-sized town.

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  • [+] 3 points 9 months ago (3 children)
  • [–] 7 points 9 months ago (1 child)

    In the actual study, the subject had Type 2 diabetes, and the authors note that treating Type 1 will be much more difficult due to the immunology involved

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  • [–] 3 points 9 months ago

    Agreed, the article says all of this but it doesn't make a lot of sense. This is generally the mindset everyone has been using to treat type 1. Type 1 is about production, type 2 is about resistance. This treatment doesn't address resistance, it just makes more insulin. More insulin is not more better, and has consequences.

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  • [–] 2 points 9 months ago (3 children)

    This treatment is for type 1 (still 12 million cases).

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  • [–] 6 points 9 months ago

    I believe you may conflating type 1, and type 2. Type 1 does not have a causal relationship with food consumption. The article also might be conflating the two as it mentions curing type 2, but by using the methodology everyone has been looking into to treat the autoimmune issues of type 1s.

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  • [–] 5 points 9 months ago (4 children)

    Multiple types are autoimmune. Doesn't the body continue to attack the cells?

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  • [–] 5 points 9 months ago (3 children)

    This was one test in one patient. We didn't hear about the patients where this didn't work. Very shitty article.

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  • [–] 1 point 9 months ago (2 children)

    Well shit. At least I wasn't willing to get my hopes up.

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  • [–] 1 point 9 months ago (1 child)

    The concept is being trialed worldwide, but it will be too expensive for anyone

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