A new treatment will be available for diabetes patients in Northeast Ohio next month. The treatment for Type 1 diabetes injects cells from a deceased donor’s pancreas into a living patient to regulate insulin levels.
The therapy could save lives, said Betul Hatipoglu, medical director of the Diabetes & Metabolic Care Center at University Hospitals, which will offer the treatment.
“I have had patients who never woke up from their sleep," she said. "I had patients who had car accidents from hypoglycemia, never recovered fully from brain damage that they had.”
The treatment will be used for patients who have diabetic ketoacidosis, a life-threatening condition where Type 1 diabetes patients are unable to detect extreme changes in their blood sugar levels, Hatipoglu said.
Individuals with this condition can have seizures, lose consciousness, become comatose and die.
The treatment is only for extreme cases, Hatipoglu said.
“You are looking at this disease like it's a cancer or it's a congestive heart failure that needs to be treated," Hatipoglu said. "This is almost an end stage diabetes.”
The limits on the treatment's use are due, in part, to the side effects, including greater susceptibility to infections, a risk of skin cancer and potential damage to kidney functions.
Local patients will be able to apply on a UH hospital website for access to the treatment within a month, Hatipoglu said. Individuals who receive the treatment need to be screened to ensure they are cancer-free and have good kidney function.
The treatment will be covered by most health insurance plans because it was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2023, she said. It’s approved for use in four other sites nationwide.
