For individuals with diabetes, the ultimate hope is cure. But how will this cure ever be realized? If the answer was obvious, all effort would be directed to it, and a Manhattan Project model would succeed. But not knowing where the cure will be found, a series of diverse approaches must be pursued, with the hope that at least one will prove successful. The broad paths to a cure may be considered either biological and surgical or mechanical.

Biological and Surgical Approaches

When successful, whole-organ allographic pancreas transplant is a state-of-the-art biological cure, normalizing blood glucose levels. About 400 to 500 pancreas transplantations are performed per year in the United States. But how successful is this "cure"? Pancreas transplants require major surgery, the best outcomes being achieved when a kidney transplantation is . . . [Full Text of this Article]