A pancreas transplant is a life-saving surgical procedure performed when a recipient’s own pancreas is diseased. The pancreas produces the hormones glucagon and insulin. Pancreas recipients suffer from a form of diabetes sometimes called insulin-dependent or juvenile onset diabetes, which is the result of an attack on the insulin producing cells of the pancreas. The resulting lack of insulin leads to high blood sugar levels that must be treated with self-administered insulin injections. Despite this treatment, complications of diabetes include visual disturbances, heart disease, nerve disorders and kidney disease. A pancreas transplant is the only cure for diabetes. Some patients require a kidney-pancreas transplant to treat both the pancreatic and kidney disease suffered as a result of diabetes. In this case, the same donor donates the pancreas and the kidney.