Beijing, China

In a medical breakthrough, a woman's type 1 diabetes has been reversed in China through the world's first stem cell transplant.

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In the treatment, these cells were converted into personalized stem cells, which were used for growing hormone-producing cells or 'islets' in the liver and pancreas, which regulate the amount of sugars in the body.

"I can eat sugar now," said the 25-year-old woman, who is from the city of Tianjin. According to the researchers, her body has now been able to successfully produce its own insulin for more than a year.

In this new method, islets were inserted just under the abdomen, which helped the researchers monitor their progress using MRI with comparative ease.

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"They've completely reversed diabetes in the patient, who was requiring substantial amounts of insulin beforehand," said transplant surgeon Dr James Shapiro, who was not part of the new study, while speaking to the journal Nature.

Here's what experts said about new medical technique

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Other experts also praised the breakthrough. "If this is applicable to other patients, it's going to be wonderful," said diabetes researcher Daisuke Yabe of Japan's Kyoto University while speaking to reporters.

However, some medical professionals said that it is better to wait and see if this treatment of the team can be reproduced in more patients.  

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University of Miami endocrinologist, Dr Jay Skyler, who has specialised in type 1 diabetes, said that it needs to be observed if this 25-year-old woman continues producing insulin on her own for at least five years before considering her medical case 'cured.'

The experts also emphasised that this process of crafting personalised transplants with the patient's own cells is difficult currently and can be costly.

According to medical experts, transplants like this, in which the extracted cells of the patient are subtly guided to turn into stem cells and then used for growing more specialised cells, which are transplanted back into the patient, may be less prone to facing rejection from the body.

(With inputs from agencies)