Diabetes, Diabetes Mellitus, is a chronic illness this means that it has no cure and the symptoms persist over a long period of time. This illness is a result of an imbalance of hormones (insulin) produced in the pancreas. Insulin plays an important role in how the body uses food. Insulin enables the cells in the bloodstream to absorb and use glucose for fuel. If the pancreas produces too little or no insulin or if the insulin doesn't work properly the person may become diabetic. Therefore, diabetics are not able to properly convert food into fuels needed by the body to function, which can seriously lead to physical consequences.
             Attempts to transplant part of a normal pancreas into a diabetic have not been very successful. The operation is a difficult one and only about 40 percent of the transplanted organs are still working. One major problem is that no way has to be found to stop the digestive juices leaking out and digesting the insulin. Pancreatic transplants have mainly been attempted in patients who have kidney failure due to the diabetes. Since the pancreas lies up against one of the kidneys, it is technically possible to transplant the two organs together, simultaneously. But, this operation has only been attempted a few times.
             A possibly more promising hope for the future is transplanting just the islet cells. They could be injected into the abdomen without any surgery. The difficulty is how to stop the body from recognizing them as foreign cells and trying to destroy them. Tiny jelly-like beads have been developed to protect the islet cells from white blood cells, which would otherwise attack the islet cells and gobble them up. But, the insulin can still seep out through the beads.
             Normally the level of glucose in the body rises after a person eats a meal. This rise in blood glucose stimulates the beta cells to release insulin. Insulin then either helps body cells take up glucose to use as energy or promotes the...