Woman cured of Type 1 diabetes in life-changing clinical trial
<p>Marlaina Goedel was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was just five-years-old, and not only was the disease controlling her, but it almost cost her life. </p>
<p>"I've crashed my car into a brick building before having a diabetic attack while driving," Goedel recalled. </p>
<p>Her condition was so extreme that she felt robbed of a normal childhood, telling the <em>Daily Mail </em>that she was in and out of hospital with life-threatening diabetic ketoacidosis, which causes toxic chemicals to build up in the blood due to a lack of insulin.</p>
<p>Now 30-years-old, the Illinois woman no longer needs daily insulin shots and can finally enjoy sugar again thanks to a pioneering stem cell therapy that has cured her of type 1 diabetes. </p>
<p>Goedel was one of three Americans who have been cured of their type 1 diabetes thanks to the clinical trial involving an islet cell transplant. </p>
<p>It is a one-off infusion that involved transplanting islet cells into her liver to help her body produce insulin on its own. </p>
<p>After four weeks, she no longer needed to take insulin. </p>
<p>"[My doctor] said, ‘Mark it on your calendar. Today is the day. Stop all insulin,'" Goedel said of the life-changing moment. </p>
<p>"I just went quiet and finally said, ‘I’m here. I’m in shock. I’m going to need you to repeat that.’"</p>
<p>The trial was being run at the University of Chicago Medicine Transplant Institute. </p>
<p>While Islet cell transplants isn't a new procedure, the current anti-rejection medication used can be toxic to the transplanted cells, potentially making it less effective over time. </p>
<p>The clinical trial that ran at the university tested out a new antibody called tegoprubart, which was given to Goedel and the two other patients. </p>
<p>Tegoprubart is made from lab-made antibodies that trick the immune system into thinking the body made the cells on its own, preventing them from being rejected. </p>
<p>The patients were then given islet cells from a deceased donor's pancreas, which were then infused into the patient's small blood vessels in their liver. Those cells then lodged into the blood vessels and started producing insulin. </p>
<p>For Goedel the only side effect of the procedure was "feeling like I got punched in the ribs," with the procedure lasting just an hour. </p>
<p>"The cure is out there," Goedel told the <em>Daily Mail. </em></p>
<p>With her new lease on life, Goedel plans to go back to school and go horse riding without worrying about suffering an attack and causing an accident. </p>
<p>"It took a while to get used to saying, 'I am cured. I am diabetes free.' It's been very freeing," she said.</p>
<p>"No one should have to live with this disease. I know that now more than ever."</p>
<p><em>Images: Good Morning America/ UChicago Medicine</em></p>
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