Because of this chronic illness, she lives a life of limited freedom with a chance of numerous complications that could occur at any time. For seven years, my sister is now considered fortunate enough to have lived her life without the hindrance of diabetes setting her back. These days, the blood glucose monitor dictates my sisters every move. This device is the Bible for Type 1 Diabetes. Without her monitor, it would only be a short matter of time before she would fall into a diabetic coma due to either an extremely high blood sugar or an extremely low blood sugar. In addition, there is also the possibility of my sister developing a long-term complication of this disease, such as kidney failure, blindness, nerve damage, amputation, heart attack, or stroke. The process of using stem cell research to help cure patients with Juvenile Diabetes is still being researched and is continuously progressing. In 2008, a team of researchers discovered that young beta cells from embryonic stem cells were able to produce insulin and "reverse diabetes in mice" (Key Issues: Stem Cell Research). If the stem cells were to work on humans, this would mean that they would replace the pancreas and essentially eliminate the need to take insulin shots.
The discovery of embryonic stem cells is exceptionally unique because unlike other potential methods that have been examined to cure a single disease, this procedure holds promise to curing a number of different diseases. Juvenile Diabetes is the one that I am most familiar with, regarding my knowledge on how the stem cells would specifically be inserted and could effectively treat victims with diabetes. Stem cells can be manipulated to facilitate the pancreas so that insulin can once again be produced in the body of a diabetic. However, stem cells have the ability to cure diseases that affect "more than 100 million Americans," such as "diabetes, cancer, heart disease, spinal cord injuries, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease" ("Key Issues: Stem Cell Research").