8 Incredible Medical Breakthroughs That Are Right Around The Corner

There is a massive amount of research happening at the moment with regards to improving the lives of diabetics.

Type 1 diabetes, sometimes known as juvenile diabetes, is due to the person's pancreas being unable to produce insulin and it is often developed in childhood. Type 2 diabetes is caused by insulin resistance that is built up through poor diet and little exercise and is a massive problem for the obese.

Diabetics usually control their insulin levels with injections and regular blood sugar checks in order to keep it at a healthy level, but now it looks as though a potential cure could be on the horizon.

A big breakthrough has been made in the field of stem cell research, after researchers at Harvard have found a way to create huge quantities of insulin-producing cells in the lab. The discovery has been compared to the development of antibiotics in its significance.

Clinical trials on non-human primates have produced some seriously encouraging results, with the stem-cell derived beta cells still happily producing insulin several months after transplantation.

A woman in the States is said to have been effectively cured of her diabetes after doctors transplanted islet cells (the pancreatic cells responsible for controlling insulin levels) into her body. Doctors claim that this brings us one step closer to a cure, but, unfortunately, it's not quite there yet as immunosuppressive drugs are required to prevent the body attacking the transplanted cells.

Estimates for when we will have an effective cure for Type 1 diabetes currently range from 3 to 20 years, but with the latest breakthroughs, it's definitely on the cards.