Type 1 diabetes is quite common among people. New research has found an effective way to deal with this proble.
With over 1 million type 1 diabetes patients in the United States according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), help is along the way with the development of a new do-it-yourself artificial pancreas (AP) which patients can use to monitor their blood sugar and aid body metabolism, the Huffington Post reports.
Patients suffering from type 1 diabetes have dysfunctional pancreas that can't produce the insulin required to absorb and metabolize blood sugar. Such people need to monitor their sugar levels at all times of the day and even at nights, raising the need to have a machine that could help them in this regard.
And in comes the DIY artificial pancreas to the rescue.
But there is a problem: these machines are mostly homemade at the moment and not yet approved for general use by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The DIY AP works by integrating the functionality of glucose sensors with insulin pumps to alert the user of dropped or risen blood sugar, and the need to manage this as required. The device provides data that tells the user whether or not to use insulin, with an alarm to notify the user during sleep in the night when his blood sugar drops.
Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, director of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health noted that "This first-of-its-kind technology can provide people with type 1 diabetes greater freedom to live their lives without having to consistently and manually monitor baseline glucose levels and administer insulin."
Users use the continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to sensor their level of blood sugar and then use the insulin pump to administer the correct dosage of insulin needed to regulate glucose and regulate body functions.
While this device is hailed as a portable savior for type 1 diabetes patients, it is hoped that the FDA would step to get it approved so that it could be widely used by diabetics everywhere.
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