I have just been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Will a pancreas transplant help reduce my risk of vascular disease, retinopathy, and other health concerns brought on by diabetes?
Yes, a pancreas transplant will help reduce your risk of vascular disease, but it will not reverse any vascular disease that is present at the time of your transplant. It will prevent progression of retinopathy (a degenerative disease of the retina) and in some cases may reverse already established symptoms of this eye disease. A pancreas transplant will also improve peripheral neuropathy, although strict sugar control will also reverse this condition. With peripheral neuropathy, injury to the peripheral nerves, which carry signals between the central nervous system (spinal column and brain) and the internal organs, muscles and skin, can produce tingling, pain and debilitation.
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