This is as wonderful story as told by a young woman who has had a kidney and pancreas transplant.
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Great story but I’m somewhat confused. How does a new pancreas cure diabetes???
Wouldn’t the immune system attack the new pancreas also??
I know a few people online who have had pancreas transplants. Two of them for more than five years. Apparently the beta cells that were attacked in the original pancreas, are not attacked in the transplanted pancreas since it is not recognized as the individual’s original pancreas. A lady in Canada has had both a pancreas and kidney transplant eight years ago, and she is doing well.
The most likely danger is the body rejecting the transplant, and the anti rejection drugs can also cause serious problems.
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Absolutely.
A pancreas transplant is certainly not worth a cure from diabetes.
However when needing to do a transplant anyway (such as kidney transplant) due to no other choices remaining than tacking on a pancreas transplant “at the same time” is then a reasonable approach.
This is certainly a high risk operation with substantial life-long impact.
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