Generally, type 1 diabetes is managed with insulin therapy, diet, and exercise. However, in some cases, transplant of the pancreas or islet cells might be an option.

Pancreas Transplant

In most cases, a pancreas transplant is done in conjunction with a kidney transplant. Kidney damage is a common complication of type 1 diabetes, and many people with diabetes end up with kidney failure that requires regular dialysis . There is very good evidence that quality of life is significantly improves for diabetics with kidney failure who receive both a pancreas and a kidney transplant together. This type of joint transplantation is an effective and beneficial treatment for properly selected patients.

Currently, some surgeons offer pancreas transplants to diabetic patients who do not have kidney failure. While the number of such "isolated" pancreas transplants has increased steadily in recent years, the balance between benefit and risk for this procedure is not as clear as it is for joint kidney-pancreas transplant.

If you receive one or more transplanted organs, you will need to take immunosuppressive drugs for the rest of your life. Immunosuppressive drugs prevent the immune system from attacking your new organ. However, these drugs have many severe side effects, including high blood pressure , hearing loss, nausea, gastric ulcers , and bacterial and viral infections.

Islet Cell transplantation

There has been a great deal of research into islet cell transplantation. Islets are a mass of cells located in the pancreas. About 75%-80% of these are beta cells, which are the cells that normally produce insulin.

Islet Cells

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Unfortunately, beta cells are very fragile, and many do not survive the transplantation procedure. In addition, the immunosuppressive drugs used to prevent the body from rejecting these new cells seem to impair the insulin-producing ability of the new cells and cause many significant side effects. While many challenges remain before islet cell transplantation emerges as a routine cure for type 1 diabetes, it seems highly likely that by 2010, great progress will be made in this rapidly advancing field.