Donor islet cells cure diabetes after transplant

The year before Lori Martin received an experimental islet cell transplant that enabled the type 1 diabetic to get off insulin, she was found unresponsive twice — first on an airplane and then in her hotel room.

“My family was on constant alert,” said the 49-year-old Orlando mother.

Today, Martin is one of fewer than 1,000 type 1 diabetics worldwide who have received a pancreatic islet cell transplant, an experimental cure for diabetes.