Movies demonstrate the destruction of beta cells

Movies demonstrate the destruction of beta cells
http://juvenation.org/juvenation_blogs/b/jdrfnews/archive/2011/12/08/diabetes-in-action
Researchers from the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology in San Diego, California published an article in December's issue of Journal of Clinical Investigation. The researchers, funded by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation(JDRF), were able to film 3-D movies in real time of the destruction of insulin producing beta cells by the immune system T cells. A two-photon microscope together with a new technique created by Dr. Matthias von Herath allowed visualization of the cells of the pancreas and the surrounding blood vessels. The movies helped the researchers better understand the process and time frame as the beta cells were destroyed. The process is much slower than previously believed and it requires tens of millions of T cells to destroy enough beta cells to cause type 1 or juvenile diabetes. This could explain the long preclinical stage before children are diagnosed. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease where the body is no longer able to produce insulin needed to process food into usable energy for your body because of this destruction of the beta cells by the T cells. After diagnosis, type 1 diabetics have to inject insulin and monitor blood sugar levels very diligently. Having low or high blood sugar can be dangerous and juvenile diabetes can lead to serious complications. Type 2 or adult onset diabetes is a very different disease.
The dedication of the JDRF to finding a cure for type 1 diabetes is the reason my family raises money for them every November for their Walk for the Cure. Over 80% of their funds go directly to research.