Summary and Prospects

Abstract

It is not easy to summarize the proceedings of such a very full day, but some detailed analysis is necessary if only for the benefit of those who were not present throughout. We are grateful to Dr. Bretzel and Dr. Federlin for their careful analysis, starting with the immunologic aspects of insulin substitution and continuing with the dynamic aspects. Our preoccupation with the more immediate problems meant that we did not deal completely with the treatment of diabetes and with the significance of dynamic insulin substitution in the prophylaxis and treatment of secondary complications in diabetes, so important to the majority of us as clinicians. The symposium ended with islet and pancreatic transplantation, with the final paper by the Goodman group on transplantation and an early attempt at insulin gene transfer, now being studied by various research teams throughout the world.