We hear a lot about diabetes, and how the number of people who suffer from it is on the rise. One major complication associated with the disease is amputation.
Every year in the United States, more than 65,000 people lose a limb because of diabetes due to a cut doesn't heal.
Now there is hope: it’s a new therapy that involves a patch made from of human skin cells.
Eighty-eight year old Garrett Adema knows all too well how devastating a wound that won't heal can be.
“I had it on the other foot,” says Adema, “I had the same type of sore on the big toe and they removed the big toe.”
It’s a scenario dr. Marisha Stawiski sees time and time again in her patients with diabetes.
“If you can't heal the wound, if it becomes deeper or gets infected it's catastrophic to your limb.”
When two sores developed on Adema’s ankle, he wasn't taking any chances.
Stawiski recommended Dermagraft, a skin substitute made from human cells that are taken from newborn foreskin tissue. Those cells are called fibroblasts.
“Fibroblasts are cells that we all have in our skin that produce really high levels of healing factors that are important to stimulating the cascade of healing,” Stawiski told FOX 17.
The living fibroblasts are on a dissolvable mesh patch that adheres right to the wound.
“It’s basically just a scaffold for those fibroblasts to come in and make themselves a home so they can do what they have to do.”
The mesh is gradually absorbed, and those cells grow and replace the damaged skin.
The graft is chryo-preserved, so it has to be thawed in water, then carefully prepped before it is applied.
Adema has had three grafts so far, and the difference is remarkable. Since the sore is so much smaller now, only a small part of the graft is needed.
The graft is held in place with a veil, bandaged up, and kept in place for a full week. Adema may need one or possibly two more grafts, but his wound is expected to be completely healed in a few weeks, rather than the 7 or 8 months it would normally take.
For Adema., no more wound means no more worries.
“It’s working -- I'm very very happy today to see how well it has changed.”
The treatment is pricey, each graft costs $1,500, but it's covered by most insurance carriers.
