Kings College and Cardiff University make Type 1 Diabetes Discovery

Mon, 16 Jan 2012
King's College and Cardiff University have made a Type 1 diabetes discovery.

Professor Andy Sewell of Cardiff University stated that the process of how insulin-producing cells attack the body is not completely understood.

Along with King's College scientists, Cardiff University researchers state that they have discovered new evidence which it considers will eventually assist the diagnosis and prevention of type 1 diabetes .

The researchers witnessed how human T-cells, which protect us type 1 diabetes, inadvertently destroyed insulin-producing cells.

Insulin controls our blood sugar levels . Therefore, insufficient insulin can prove fatal.

There are 160,000 diagnosed diabetics in Wales alone.

Prof Sewell, who is an expert in human T-cells from Cardiff University's School of Medicine, worked in collaboration with diabetes experts from King's College.

Scientists manage to isolate a T-cell from a type 1 diabetic to view a process which ends in the killing of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas .

This is the first time this process has been observed.

Speaking on BBC Radio Wales, Professor Sewell stated: "This is a breakthrough and tells us where we can now focus in the future."

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