Over the past few decades, technology has been striving to keep up with a growing number of diabetic patients.
For Kristin Duquaine, managing her type 1 diabetes is a full-time job. She wears an insulin pump and has to check her blood sugar six to 10 times a day.
"Your day starts and the first thing you really think of is what is the blood sugar," explained Duquaine.
New technology that allows meters and pumps to communicate wirelessly with each other may make the process easier. After patients prick their fingers and the glucose meter reads the blood sugar levels, it sends that reading wirelessly to the pump. A calculator figures the correct dose, the patient approves it and the pump delivers the right amount of insulin.
Dr. Thomas O'Connell an Endocrinologist University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine says, "The number already gets sent to the pump, so you don’t have to enter it in the pump."
Some diabetics are now using glucose sensors that constantly monitor blood sugar levels. Every few minutes, the sensor takes a blood sugar reading. If the patients sugars are too high or low, an alarm sounds.
Unfortunately, insulin pumps don't work for everyone.
Debra Lofton has diabetes and says, "The insulin pump wouldn’t work for me."
What has worked for Lofton is an injection port which has taken away the need for so many daily sticks. The needle is inserted then the insulin is injected. The insulin then goes right through the tiny little catheter. The port stays in place for three days before it must be changed. Lofton takes all seven daily doses for those three days through her port, 21 in all.
"Whereas I would dread taking my insulin, I now take it willingly," Lofton said.
These two advances are making life easier for people with diabetes.
The wireless meter pump system is now available to both type 1 and type 2 diabetics. The injection port is available through prescription only. A good candidate for insulin pumps about their disease, willing to monitor glucose levels regularly and able to learn how the technology works.
The American Diabetes Association says 23.6 million people in the United States are living with diabetes, 8 percent of the population. The prevalence of the disease jumped by 13.5 percent between 2005 and 2007. A diagnosis of diabetes, whether type 1 or type 2, means a lifestyle change. To keep blood sugars in check, diabetics have to monitor it manually, deliver insulin and adjust their diets. In some cases, exercise and weight loss can reduce the severity of the disease.
The increase in prevalence of diabetes has provoked a boom in technology to monitor and control the disease. Traditionally, diabetics had to regularly test their urine to keep track of blood sugar levels. Now, most diabetics use blood glucose meters to monitor their levels. With a typical glucose meter, the patient places a small sample of blood on a disposable test strip and places that strip on the meter. The glucose in the blood adheres to chemicals on the test strip and the meter measures how much glucose is present. The Food and Drug Administration says at least 25 different meters are commercially available. After a blood glucose reading is completed, the patient is responsible for administering insulin if needed. This can be done through a syringe, an insulin pen, a jet injector, an insulin port or an insulin pump. Insulin pumps deliver insulin 24 hours a day through a catheter inserted under the skin. The patient wearing it can order the pump to deliver extra insulin at meals or other times when blood sugars may be too high. New technology links meters and pumps wirelessly so the patient doesn't have to calculate and enter the correct amount of insulin into the pump.
The same meters that can transmit blood sugar readings wirelessly can keep track of other data like exercise habits and carbohydrate counts. All of this data can be uploaded to a computer and printed off and taken to the doctor's office. "By being able to put all this information into the meters, it can help the health care provider make better recommendations towards health care," Thomas O'Connell, M.D., an endocrinologist at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C.said.
AN ARTIFICIAL PANCREAS FOR DIABETICS: The newest development in diabetes management is continuous glucose monitoring. This system consists of a small plastic catheter inserted just under the skin, similar to the way an insulin pump is connected. The catheter collects small amounts of liquid and measures the amount of glucose. If blood sugar levels climb too high or drop too low, an alarm sounds. A diabetes monitoring system that combines continuous glucose monitoring and an insulin pump will be the next step in diabetes technology. The combination would eliminate both the need for finger pricking and calculating and would essentially be like a pancreas outside the patient's body, both monitoring blood sugar and delivering the proper amount of insulin. Although the diabetes device company Medtronic is already marketing pumps and continuous glucose monitoring as a set, a finger prick and meter reading is still required.
