AUSTRALIAN scientists are hoping that seaweed can help treat type-I diabetes, one of the country’s most common illnesses, ABC News Online has reported.
The research is in its early stages but if successful it could mean patients would no longer have to inject insulin or take anti-rejection drugs.
Doctors from the Prince of Wales Hospital and the University of New South Wales are trialling the new treatment. They extracted insulin-producing cells from a donated pancreas. The cells were placed in tiny capsules coated in seaweed and injected into the patient’s abdomen. The breakthrough in this process is the use of seaweed.
"There are pores on the surface of the capsules which allow nutrients to come in but are too small to allow immune cells, which would destroy the cells, to enter," Prince of Wales Hospital spokesman Professor Bernie Tuch reportedly said.
As immune cells cannot penetrate the seaweed, the patient does not have to take anti-rejection drugs that can cause serious side effects.
Professor Bernie Tuch says the best case scenario is that it could be possible for diabetics to come off insulin.
Doctors hope the treatment will help the 130,000 Australians who have type-I diabetes.
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