IS IMMUNOSUPPRESSION JUSTIFIED TO ACHIEVE INSULIN-INDEPENDENCE?
by David Sutherland, M.D., Ph.D. Director, Diabetes Institute for Immunology and Transplantation University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota (Copyright 2002, by INSULIN FREE TIMES magazine (www.insulinfreetimes.org), reprinted with permission) Currently, the only two treatments that sustain life for people with type 1 diabetes are exogenous insulin provided by injections or pumps, and beta-cell transplantation with ongoing immunosuppression. Beta-cell transplantation may be achieved by transplanting the complete pancreas organ or by transplanting the insulin-producing cells alone. Besides providing the highest daily quality of life possible, a principal objective of today’s treatments for insulin-dependent diabetes is to reduce secondary complications, or in the case of a transplant, to reduce the side effects of the immunosuppressive drugs. It is known that the lower the average blood sugar level, the lower the incidence of secondary complications. Unfortunately, other than consis
