Dear Dr. SerVaas: I have been a known diabetic since I was a very active, 15-year-old farm boy. After trying diet therapy, doctors in Kansas City, Kansas, started me on 40 units of insulin. As I left the hospital, they told me that I was lucky because the average life for a diabetic was 11 years but that there would be a cure within 10 years.

On August 29, 2002, I was 79 years old. Would you please tell me when I can expect to be cured of diabetes? I now take 50 units of insulin. I am in very good health. My wife and I have been married 56 years and have 15 descendants.

Ralph Mitchell
Buena Park, California

Dear Reader: Thank you for writing. We are sure that your good sense of humor and strong family values have helped keep you healthy while doctors continue to search for a diabetes cure.

Researchers hope that successful islet cell transplantation might spell the end of type 1 diabetes--a condition in which a person's immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys islet cells that secrete insulin. We wrote about the revolutionary treatment when results of the experiment first broke. The story, "Diabetes Type 1: One Step Closer to a Cure," appeared in the Sept./Oct. 2000 issue of the Post.

In the procedure, insulin-producing cells from the donor pancreas are injected into the portal vein of the patient's liver. The cells become lodged in tiny blood vessels and begin to produce insulin, as they would normally in the pancreas.

Scientists are also investigating other potential "cures": an artificial pancreas, pancreas transplants, and genetic therapy to change fat or muscle cells into insulin-producing cells.

Islet cell transplants--first developed in Canada--are now being tested at several medical centers in the United States. Look for an interview with Dr. Camillo Ricordi, director of the Diabetes Research Center at the University of Miami, about the promise of islet cell transplants in a future issue of the magazine.