the real deal," said Dr. Tom Donner, director of the diabetes center at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "It's like making a new pancreas that makes all the hormones" needed to control blood sugar. Donner, who is not involved in the research, said if the device gives patients normal insulin levels, "it's going to prevent millions of diabetics from getting dangerous complications." People with Type 1 diabetes no longer produce insulin, the hormone that converts sugar in the blood into energy, because their immune system has killed off the beta cells in the pancreas. Those cells make insulin in response to rising blood sugar levels after a meal. Over years, excess sugar in the bloodstream damages blood vessels and organs. Without effective treatment, diabetics suffer severe complications: blindness, , heart disease, amputations, even premature death. On the other hand, too much insulin can cause very low blood sugar, which can kill patients, particularly young children.According to the American Diabetes Association, about 29.1 million Americans have diabetes, including 1.25 million with type 1 diabetes. The number with Type 1, or insulin-dependent, diabetes is growing steadily. Meanwhile, the number with Type 2 diabetes, whose bodies make some insulin but don't use it efficiently, is increasing exponentially due to the global epidemic of obesity and sedentary lifestyles.
