Physician bias might keep life-saving transplants from black and Hispani...(actually got worse instead of better sa...),Health

The benefits of a kidney pancreas transplant are the list is much shorter; 2200 compared with over 80,000 for a kidney alone, according to the United Network of Organ Sharing (www.unos.org). Patient survival and kidney graft survival are better in kidney pancreas transplants.

"I don't think the medical community has been aggressive enough about kidney/pancreas transplant, especially in African Americans who are assumed to have type 2 diabetes. When a person has type 2 diabetes and they are obese, the benefit of a kidney/pancreas transplant is often outweighed by the risks of surgery which are higher in an obese person. So they are not offered the transplant. There is also a population of people with diabetes who are sort of between type 1 and type 2. This procedure would work for them too. But I think the medical community is, in some cases, making assumptions about the African American and Hispanic population that they are not making with other racial groups."

A kidney/pancreas transplant is the only current, reliable way to give diabetics normal glucose and insulin levels 24 hours a day. It's not technically a cure, but it does eliminate the medical problems associated with diabetes.

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