Leslie Jones is one of the first diabetic patients in the UK to have a transplant, banishing the need for regular insulin jabs. TIM BRADY investigates
WHEN Leslie Jones used to scoff a couple of Kit Kats every night before going to sleep, it wasn’t because he had a sweet tooth. The 58-year-old diabetes sufferer was desperately trying to prevent a potentially life-threatening hypoglycaemic attack in the middle of the night.
This happens when blood sugar levels plummet so quickly it can trigger a diabetic coma and the patient slips into unconsciousness.
It can be easily remedied with intravenous glucose if treated quickly in hospital but for sufferers like Leslie, who live alone, the prospect of not being found in time can be terrifying.
Now Leslie, from Moston in Manchester, no longer needs his night-time chocolate thanks to a revolutionary transplant that has transformed his life.
He is one of only around 20 patients in Britain to have undergone an islet cell transplant for diabetes, where insulin-producing cells are taken from a donor and injected into the recipient’s liver.
Once they are in place, these cells manufacture enough of the hormone to regain control of blood sugar levels and either drastically reduce the amount of insulin jabs needed or banish them completely.
“I don’t have to eat chocolate every night and now I can go to the shops without worrying if I am going to collapse because my blood sugar is too low.
“I used to be in and out of hospital because of hypoglycaemic attacks but I’ve not had one since my transplant.”
Read more: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/226394/The-45-minute-cure-for-deadly-diabetesThe-45-minute-cure-for-deadly-diabetes#ixzz1CjbQtt5V
