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This week on Health Watch, we’re talking about research into obesity and medical conditions related to it. Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found that a low-fat diet and weight loss could be the key to making pancreas cell transplants work.
These transplants are used to treat diabetes, but most patients end up having to take insulin again after a couple of years. The researchers found that the pancreas cells, which lodge in the liver, may be killed by fat in the liver. By putting laboratory mice on a “diet” to reduce body weight and fat consumption, researchers were able to keep more of the transplanted pancreas cells alive. Dr. Roger Unger, a diabetes researcher at UT Southwestern, says this means weight control and diet could help improve the success of pancreas cell transplants.
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September 2007
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