Diabetes 101 Article Category

Window Tinting and Diabetic Retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy is a disease of the retina of the eye and is a complication of the eye that is usually caused by either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, but most often Type 1. Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in the young, those whose pancreas has stopped producing insulin, and the person is forced to take artificial insulin the remainder of their life in order to stay alive.

Window Tinting and Diabetic Retinopathy: Diabetic retinopathy is a disease of the retina of the eye and is a complication of the eye that is usually caused by either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, but most often Type 1. Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in the young, those whose pancreas has stopped producing insulin, and the person is forced to take artificial insulin the remainder of their life in order to stay alive.

Diabetic retinopathy can lead to blood leaking into the retina from ruptured blood vessels, causing new, weaker blood vessels to form. Once these new vessels break, which can occur at any time, the blood leaks into the middle part of the eye in front of the retina and vision is altered. The bleeding can cause scar tissue, which can then cause the retina to become detached or cause a large rupture in any of the blood vessels, or cause a slow leaking of blood. These gradual events can lead to blindness, if not treated.

Diabetes is the leading cause of new blindness in adults from the age of 20 to the age of 74. This is a very strong reason to keep your diabetes under control as well as you can, and to also see an ophthalmologist annually so any signs of retinopathy can be addressed immediately.

With today’s modern technology, diabetic retinopathy can be treated through laser surgery. A laser is used to stop the growth of new and weaker blood vessels. But each time laser surgery is performed on the eye, a little of the vision is lost, and a little bit of sensitivity to the eyes might be noticed.

As well as some vision loss, there could be sensitivity to light – a flash from a camera going off in one’s face, bright sunlight when outside on a sunny day, even strong light coming in through the windows of the home. Looking at a computer screen for long hours can cause eye discomfort. Most of these situations can be taken care of by simply avoiding flashing from cameras, closing the blinds at home, wearing darkened sunglasses when outside, tilting the computer screen around so you can see a little better, even taking a break from the computer. Some people have chosen to have the windows in their homes tinted to decrease the amount of strong sunlight coming into the home.

When you are in your car, you can wear your sunglasses, which will lessen the harsh light, or you can have the windows on your car tinted, usually the front window and the two side windows of the driver and the front seat passenger.

Every state of the United States has laws and regulations in place to determine how dark the windows of your automobile can be tinted. All sorts of reasons make this is a good policy. But each state realizes that there are medical conditions which allow for these tinted windows to be darker than the rules allow.

Lupus, sunlight allergy, photo-sensitivity and melanoma are some of the medical conditions in which the window tint laws of any state can be waived or altered (a medical exemption) and for the person to avoid a traffic citation. If the car is pulled over, then a driver or passenger must present documentation to the police officer to avoid a traffic ticket being issued. These exemptions are only recognized when they are issued by a medically qualified person who has determined that the driver or passenger qualifies for this exemption by the issuance of a prescription, or detailed letter; this prescription or detailed letter should state the amount of light that is permitted; the prescription must have an expiration date and tell how long the exemption is good for; and the vehicle that is to be used for this medical exemption has to be identified. You can contact the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) within your state to determine the exact process you must go through in order to obtain this medical window tinting exemption.

Diabetic retinopathy can affect the ability to see and cause a hypersensitivity to light. If you think that you are in need of one of the special window tinting medical exemptions (medical sun screening), check with your physician to see if you quality and then go through the mandatory steps necessary within your state to qualify. If you qualify for such an exemption, most of the window tinting companies around will know the tint level that is acceptable for your state for a medical condition. Just ask about the services they offer and inquire about their knowledge of the window tinting laws within your state and their knowledge of the medical necessary tinting for those suffering from vision loss of the kind that sunlight worsens. They should have all the rules and regulations right there is their facility. If not, call around until you find a window tinting company that knows all the ins and outs of your state regulations. You don’t want a ticket and run into the expense of having your window tinting removed because it exceeds your state’s requirements so make sure you deal with a qualified, knowledgeable company.

Safety is the most important thing. If your vision is affected by harsh sunlight as a result of your laser surgery to treat your diabetic retinopathy, talk with your ophthalmologist and see if steps can be taken to help you.

Tom Martinez, Facebook And A Donor

In June when Martinez gave his dire prognosis for his imminent death on Facebook, it was a blow for the football world that was difficult to absorb.

Tom Martinez, Facebook And A Donor: Back in June of 2011, famous quarterback coach Tom Martinez announced on his Facebook page that his complications stemming from diabetes and other ailments gave him only one month remaining to live because he needed a simultaneous heart and kidney transplant. Martinez, a very well-respected coach who has worked with many, many quarterbacks over the years, is probably most well known for working so closely with Tom Brady, the winner of three Super Bowl titles while he’s been with the New England Patriots.

In June when Martinez gave his dire prognosis for his imminent death on Facebook, it was a blow for the football world that was difficult to absorb. The football world mourned. Martinez at that time stated, “My medical test numbers say I’m basically gone. My blood pressure is too low for me to continue with dialysis, and without dialysis poisons build up in my body. Doctors say without dialysis I have a week to go. We’re looking into transplants. I would need both heart and kidney transplants done simultaneously.”

Coach Martinez retired in 2005 from coaching at the College of San Mateo, California, because of his health issues, but he still worked with quarterbacks at camps and on an individual basis. Martinez will always be one of the best coaches from the junior college ranks and is a member of the College of San Mateo’s Hall of Fame.

Facebook can do wonders. Since those announcements by Martinez back in June, he was contacted by eight people who offered Martinez a kidney. Through testing, a suitable donor was found that matched Martinez’s blood type. The heart situation seems to have been corrected through a pacemaker that was adjusted just last week. Now, it seems that Martinez just needs that kidney to keep on going.

After Martinez finishes up with the camp that he’s now visiting, he will return to UCLA for more internal tests to see if he is well enough to undergo the kidney transplant and stated that, “They might try to do a double transplant if everything works.”

This is great news for the football world, his family and those who love him. Most importantly, it’s great news for Coach Martinez. There might be a new young kid out there somewhere with a great throwing arm that needs Martinez’s guidance, and catches Martinez’s eye. Coach Martinez has never walked away from a good challenge, particularly when it comes to quarterbacking, but especially when it comes to his diabetes.

Bob Krause: Oldest Living Type 1 Diabetic

Bob Krause celebrated his 90th birthday in May of 2011, an extraordinary fete considering that Mr. Krause was diagnosed with Type 1 (juvenile diabetes mellitus) insulin-dependent diabetes 85 years ago.

Sad Update (May 2012): Bob Krause passed away in May 2012, just before turning 91 years old.

Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in younger children, and has nothing to do with diet or obesity. Type 1 diabetes is thought to be caused by some type virus attacking the islets in the pancreas that produce insulin and destroying them, or possibly some environmental effect that also causes these islets to die and no longer produce insulin. Also, genetics are known to play a role in the eventual diagnosis of type 1 diabetes. A diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes always requires the injection of artificial insulin into the body or the person will die.

Insulin was discovered in 1921 by Canadian scientists Frederick Banting and John Macleod. Prior to the creation of insulin, those diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes slowly starved and eventually died. There was no insulin in the body so the intake of any foods could not be converted to feed the body. Without food, the body cannot survive.

When Krause was diagnosed all those years ago, it was his mother who began treating his condition. By the time Krause was six, though, he had taken over giving himself injections at every meal.

During the years, the paraphernalia that is used by diabetics today was not available – not the fine-needled syringes, not the blood glucose meters, not the insulin pumps, and certainly not the artificial sweeteners. Krause’s mother boiled glass syringes that had long needles. These syringes were not disposable and the points of the needles became blunt from wear. When that happened, the needles were sharpened to be used again.

Having lost one son already to juvenile diabetes, Krause’s mother was diligent with Bob’s diet. She weighed each piece of food and kept him on a strict diet.

Over the years, urine testing became available to give the person an idea of how much sugar was contained in the urine, a dicey way of regulating your blood sugar level, but that was all that was available at the time. During Krause’s lifetime, the way he tested in the early years was to boil his urine in a test tube, put a dissolvable tablet in that test tube, and the urine in the test tube would turn a different color in reaction to the tablet so Krause would have an idea of how much sugar was in his urine. Urine testing for sugar levels was not as accurate as the current blood testing for blood glucose levels that we have available today.

There are approximately 3 millions Americans living with Type 1 diabetes. It is a chronic disease, a lifetime disease. Type 1 diabetes diminishes for many diabetics their life expectancy because blood sugar levels out of control at any time can eventually lead to severe complications – heart disease, blindness, strokes, kidney damage and limb amputations.

Bob Krause has shown us that living with Type 1 diabetes over a long number of years is possible, although he has taken great care of the years to control his diabetes and not let it control him. Bob Krause stated that he “treats his body like a car and he only eats enough food to fuel the machine. To keep your diabetes under control you only eat the food you need to before you have activities to perform.” He continued by stating that, “I eat to keep me alive instead of eating all the time, or for pleasure.” His diet usually consists of a bowl of nuts and five pitted prunes for breakfast, no lunch, and has a salad with lean meat for dinner.

Krause currently has an insulin pump, and has had it since 1978. The insulin pump is attached to a person’s stomach, and the insulin is administered through the pump, with the person opting to choose the amount of insulin to be injected into their body, or by letting the newer, more modern insulin pumps determine how much insulin will be injected. Krause has stated that he chooses to use the type insulin pump that allows him to determine the amount of insulin his body will receive.

There are other people who have been honored for living so many years with Type 1 diabetes. Since 1948, 34 diabetics have received their 75 year medals.

Bob Krause has fought long and hard to keep his diabetes under control, and he has been successful for 85 years. He is an inspiration for those going down that bumpy, difficult road of managing Type 1 diabetes. He is proof that it can be done.

New Discoveries Made in Conquering Kidney Disease in Diabetic Patients

The kidneys, along with the eyes, are at times the main targets of these complications. With the eyes, there is vision loss. With the kidneys, there is kidney failure, which could lead to kidney dialysis.

New Discoveries Made in Conquering Kidney Disease in Diabetic Patients: Diabetes and kidney failure go hand in hand. The kidneys do not fail simply because one has either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, but the kidneys fail because increased blood sugar levels over time damage blood vessels and the internal organs. Researchers worldwide are seeking to find the answers to why a person develops diabetes, how to stop the complications that arise from having these elevated blood sugar levels caused by diabetes and how to protect the organs. The kidneys, along with the eyes, are at times the main targets of these complications. With the eyes, there is vision loss. With the kidneys, there is kidney failure, which could lead to kidney dialysis. Many people live with the help of kidney dialysis, waiting for a transplant to become available.

According to the latest issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Professor Dr. Tobias Huber, a kidney expert at the Nephrology Division of the University Medical Center Freiburg, Germany (a teaching hospital and medical research unit of the University of Freiburg and well known for its advanced research), along with the help of the Cluster of Excellence BIOSS (Center for Biological Signaling Studies), and his team have been able to make new discoveries as to why the kidneys fail as a result of diabetes.

This new research data was able to identify a signaling path that affects the progression of kidney disease in diabetic patients. mTOR (which belongs to the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-related kinase protein family) is a metabolic enzyme that controls the growth and reproduction of cells. Through research, it has been shown that diabetes, either Type 1 or Type 2, causes the mTOR signaling path to become overactive. When the signaling path becomes overactive, it causes damage to the kidney cells which in turn leads to kidney failure.

Basal activation of mTOR may be proven to be vital for the regular function of renal corpuscles during human development, but the overactive mTOR can result in breakdown of kidney filtering in diabetic patients, which eventually leads to the total shutdown of the kidneys.

Using animals for testing, the researchers were able to stop the signaling path and able to stop the kidney disease in its tracks. If applied to diabetic patients with kidney failure in the future, this is a chance for the end of kidney failure in those suffering from any form of diabetes.

Kidney failure affects approximately 288,000 American citizens who are currently undergoing kidney dialysis. Kidney dialysis involves removing waste and excess water from the blood. Like artificial insulin being placed into the body to replace insulin no longer produced by the body, dialysis takes away the excess waste products for people with lost kidney function. Kidney failure can develop over months or years. Acute kidney failure is not reversible and kidney dialysis is required in order for the patient to live. Many consider kidney dialysis as the waiting period until a kidney transplant can be performed.

Through the new research results from Dr. Huber and his team there might be hope on the horizon for those new patients in the future who suffer from kidney failure. This new research information might lead the way for the discoveries necessary to eliminate the need for kidney dialysis. There may be hope that those with diabetes may never have to face the possibility of kidney failure and dialysis.

High-Fat Diet Pregnancy Could Lead to Diabetes in Children

A study created by the University of Illinois suggests that a high-fat diet throughout one’s pregnancy could lead to diabetes in the child even if the mother herself is not a diabetic or even obese.

High-Fat Diet Pregnancy Could Lead to Diabetes in Children: A study created by the University of Illinois suggests that a high-fat diet throughout one’s pregnancy could lead to diabetes in the child even if the mother herself is not a diabetic or even obese.

A University of Illinois professor of nutrition, Yuan-Xiang said, “We found that exposure to a high-fat diet before birth modifies gene expression in the livers of offspring so they are more likely to overproduce glucose, which can cause early insulin resistance and diabetes. He also noted, “The high-fat diet that caused these changes was a typical Western diet that contained 45 percent fat, which is not at all unusual. In recent years, the American diet has shifted to include many high-energy, high-fat, cafeteria-type, and fast foods.”

Based off of the study, researchers hope that doctors will be able to screen newborns through a diagnostic tool in which cam help keep children’s blood sugar in the normal range, which in the end will give them a better chance at lessening the risk of diabetes.

During the study, doctoral student Rita Strakovsky was able to feed obesity-resistant rats with a high-fat or a controlled diet from the first day of their gestation period. The rats were not obese at all, which means they were able to see that the diet alone was very helpful in slowing the risk of diabetes.

Strakovsky said, “At birth, offspring in the high-fat group had blood sugar levels that were twice as high as those in the control group, even though their mothers had normal levels. The high-fat offspring also had epigenetic modifications to genes that regulate glucose metabolism. One of these modifications, the acetylation of histones, acts by loosening the DNA, making it easier for the gene to be transcribed.”

Through the study it was quickly understood that diabetes cannot be stopped but the chances can be lessened with a low-fat diet.

Pan said, “We’d like to see if diet after birth could alleviate this problem that was programmed before birth,” During the study epigenetics was used as the diagnostic tool but Strakovsky states “The importance of making dietary recommendations for pregnant women more available so they are able to prevent this health problem.

She also stated, “Obstetrics patients rarely see a dietitian unless they’re having medical problems like gestational diabetes or pre-eclampsia. Doctors now tend to focus on how much weight a woman should gain in a healthy pregnancy. Although healthy weight gain is extremely important, nutritional guidance could be invaluable for all pregnant women and their babies.”

A pregnant woman’s diet should consist of foods that are low in saturated fats such as fish, walnuts, whole grain bread, poultry, sunflower seeds and eggs. Fast foods, pastries and fattier cuts of meat are all bad, high-fat foods that are leading to more diabetic patients.

Oil Refining Helping Researchers With New Tools For Type 1 Diabetes

In order to control blood sugar, engineering researchers from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are merging automation techniques from oil refining in order to create a closed-loop artificial pancreas.

Oil Refining Helping Researchers With New Tools For Type 1 Diabetes: In order to control blood sugar, engineering researchers from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are merging automation techniques from oil refining in order to create a closed-loop artificial pancreas.

The reason for this device is so that blood sugar levels can be automatically monitored and insulin can be administered to patients suffering from Type 1 diabetes. After six years of research and studies, Professor B. Wayne Bequette, a member of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Rensselaer had progressively created more highly advanced control systems for the closed-loop artificial pancreas. Through Professor Bequette work, he hopes to benefit 15,000 children and 15,000 adults who are diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes every single year.

Bequette states: “Every single person with Type 1 diabetes has a different response to insulin and a different response to meals. These responses also vary with the time of day, type of meal, stress level, and exercise. A successful automated system must be safe and reliable in spite of these widely varying responses.”

Like most people, Bequettes fight against type 1 diabetes is very personal to him, given that his little sister developed the disease very early in life. Unfortunately, at that time diabetes wellness was not as advanced as it is today.

A person who had Type 1 diabetes will find themselves with little or no insulin in their pancreas. Due to this, they will have to take insulin injections on a daily basis. Some people who have Type 1 diabetes prefer to use an insulin pump instead. The insulin will help to maintain the blood sugars, for if they do not stay balanced serious life-threatening health problems could occur through hyperglycemic, which means blood sugar is too high and through hypoglycemic, which means blood sugar is too low.

Bequette says, “A key challenge for people living with Type 1 diabetes is the constant monitoring of their blood sugar level. Blood glucose levels are generally measured from a tiny blood sample captured from a finger stick test, prior to eating or sleeping. Another critical challenge is accurately estimating how many carbohydrates they eat. These blood sugar readings, along with the amount of carbs eaten, must be interpreted to decide how much insulin the individual needs to inject. Exercise and fitness also impact the amount of insulin required. Continuous blood glucose monitors are available on the market, but are not yet as accurate as finger sticks tests. There are many judgment calls and best guesses being made on a daily basis by individuals with Type 1 diabetes. And though medical technology for diabetes is very advanced and reliable, he is working on an artificial pancreas that would remove the need for most of this guesswork.”

HbA1C Results Prove Inaccurate For Dialysis Patients

HbA1C Results Prove Inaccurate For Dialysis Patients: According to a new study at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, a test known as the golden standard long-term glucose monitoring test proved to be less valuable in patients who are on dialysis.

The hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c) is administrated to patients over a 3-month period to check blood sugar levels and has become a trusted test in terms of the medical field. It had even been identified as an applicable tool in diagnosing diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association. However, recently professionals have found that the HbA1c test is not helpful for patients who have been diagnosed with diabetes and are in the advanced stages of kidney failure. Alternatively, the GA assay, aka glycated albumin does appear to be more helpful in that area.

Diabetes is the most common cause of kidney failure worldwide and is associated with high mortality rates — more than 20 percent of dialysis patients die each year. As such, there is an urgent need for accurate blood sugar testing in diabetic dialysis patients.

Barry I. Freedman, M.D., lead investigator of the study and Professor at John H. Felts III said, “Many organs don’t function properly in severe kidney failure. For example, most dialysis patients have anemia with fewer red blood cells than they should, which has a dramatic impact on the accuracy of the HbA1c reading.”

Freedman goes on to say, “Doctors long thought the HbA1c predicted outcomes in diabetes. This test is not predictive of outcomes in diabetes patients with kidney disease on dialysis. Dialysis patients and physicians get a false sense of security because their lower HbA1c actually relates to shorter red cell survival, yet suggests diabetes control is better than it really is.”

This is the way it works. Hemoglobin takes red blood cells through the body, carrying oxygen. Blood sugar will interact with the hemoglobin and come up with HbA1c, which are only accurate when red cells have a regular lifespan. However, dialysis patients have a shorter red cell lifespan, which means the time that sugar is in the blood stream to interact with hemoglobin is reduced and cause less HbA1c values.

During this study, 444 patients suffering from diabetes who also have to undergo dialysis were tested on. While patients continued their normal treatments and were monitored in the amount of HbA1c they also agreed to the GA test every three months for 2.3 years.

Freedman responds the results of the test. “This is the first study showing that a blood sugar test predicts risk of death in diabetic dialysis patients, as well as risk of hospitalization. This test provides the missing link that will allow dialysis patients and physicians to accurately gauge risk. The association is clear: high GA readings predict higher risk.”

More than 24 million Americans suffer from diabetes and being able to monitor blood sugar is one way to manage diabetes. More than 500,000 people are on dialysis in United States alone and diabetes is the cause of almost 50 percent of those with kidney failure. More than 20 percent of patients who suffer from kidney failure die each year.

Master Gene Found To Cause Obesity And Diabetes

Master Gene Found To Cause Obesity And Diabetes: According to a study led by a team of King’s College London and the University of Oxford researchers, a “master regulator” gene is being named the culprit of high cholesterol levels and type 2 diabetes in the body.

The regulatory gene has become a lead target in helping to fight off metabolic diseases such as diabetes, obesity and even heart disease. Fat alone is the biggest cause of these diseases.

Through years of continuous study, it had already come to light that the KLF14 gene was linked to type 2 diabetes and cholesterol levels. However, researchers did not know about the role that was being played in which could control other genes positioned further away on the genome.

Over 20,000 genes within subcutaneous fat biopsies in 800 UK female twin volunteers were examined. A connection was found between the KLF14 gene and the expression levels of multiple distant genes that were found in fat tissue. This means that the gene acts as a master switch to control these genes. Six hundred subcutaneous fat biopsies were then confirmed in Icelandic subjects.

These other genes that are controlled by the KLF14 gene are found to be linked to certain metabolic traits like cholesterol, insulin, glucose levels, and BMX (body-mass index).

There are a set of genes that are inherited by the mother and the father, but the KLF14 gene is inherited from the mother. In this instance, the father’s side of the KLF14 for lack of a better world “switched off.” This means that the mother’s gene is the one that is ready and active. This is actually referred to as a process known as imprinting. The KLF14’s ability to control other genes is completely dependent on the mother, as the father’s copy showed nothing.

A professor by the name of Tim Spector who led the MuTHER project to find out what the master gene was capable of had this to say. “This is the first major study that shows how small changes in one master regulator gene can cause a cascade of other metabolic effects in other genes. This has great therapeutic potential particularly as by studying large detailed populations such as the twins we hope to find more of these regulators.”

Another professor, Mark McCarthy also commented. “KLF14 seems to act as a master switch controlling processes that connect changes in the behavior of subcutaneous fat to disturbances in muscle and liver that contribute to diabetes and other conditions. We are working hard right now to understand these processes and how we can use this information to improve treatment of these conditions.”

New System Could Convert Cells Into Making Insulin

New System Could Convert Cells Into Making Insulin: Diabetes is a disease of the body that incurs when a person does not have enough pancreatic beta cells, to produce the necessary insulin which is used to regulate their blood sugar levels.

As it stands right now, there is one standard treatment for diabetic patients and that’s insulin therapy. Insulin therapy works by supplying the patient with insulin so that blood sugar levels can be maintained, thereby reducing the risk of high blood sugar levels that cause a number of various diabetic complications such as neuropathy.

With advancements being made all the time in scientific medicine, researchers began to wonder what would happen if they tried to persuade other cells within the body to become pancreatic beta cells. The answer became quite clear when researchers from UCLA’s Larry L. Hillblom Islet Research Center took the scope from asking the question to making it a reality. The researchers found an underlying mechanism that can transform other cells into pancreatic beta cells.

While insulin therapy does work as an effective treatment, pancreatic beta cells are a potential cure for diabetes.

“Our work shows that beta cells and related endocrine cells can easily be converted into each other,” notes study co-author Dr. Anil Bhushan, an associate professor of medicine in the endocrinology division at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and in the UCLA Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology.

Throughout history, cells have been construed as being set in place and unable to change or switched to other cells. However, recent studies have proved something much different. This has launched further understanding into what mechanism allows this to happen.

Chemical tags named “methyl groups” are connected to DNA; these chemical tags can turn up and down the activity of different, particular genes. Methyl groups are very important when it comes to understanding how cells can be transformed into pancreatic beta cells. Methyl groups keep a gene called ARX, which triggers the formation of glucagon-secreting alpha cells in the embryonic pancreas, which cannot be seen in beta cells. By deleting an enzyme called Dnmt1 from the insulin-producing beta cells, they can be transformed into alpha cells.

“We show that the basis for this conversion depends not on genetic sequences but on modifications to the DNA that dictates how the DNA is wrapped within the cell,” Bhushan notes. “We think this is crucial to understanding how to convert a variety of cell types, including stem cells, into functional beta cells.”

Artificial Pancreas May Improve Overnight Control of Diabetes in Adults

New trial studies show suggest that an artificial pancreas, also known as closed loop insulin delivery could advance overnight blood glucose control.

Artificial Pancreas May Improve Overnight Control of Diabetes in Adults: New trial studies show suggest that an artificial pancreas, also known as closed loop insulin delivery could advance overnight blood glucose control. The studies also show a reduction in nocturnal hypoglycemia, which is a sudden drop of blood glucose levels in the night for patients who have Type 1 diabetes.

Diabetes is a very common illness among the population. Just alone, the United States has more than 26 million diabetic patients. Patients range from women to men, to small children. Diabetes does not pick and choose, it affects everyone. In today’s world, genetics has very little to do with whether or not a person becomes a diabetic. Although the risk factors are greater, with diabetes in an individual’s family history. Diabetes increases yearly and right now the illness stands at a rate of 3 percent of people developing diabetes yearly.

Those who have Type 1 diabetes know that it is no secret that, in order to control diabetes, insulin must be administered. It is a life-long process and while medical science has made some pretty amazing diabetic breakthroughs, it is a pattern that must completed on a daily basis. In order for blood glucose levels to be controlled, a person must use insulin. While this is a common annoyance to those with type 1 diabetes, it is not uncommon for patients to make the best of it and take their insulin. However, when it comes to the night, patients are sleeping. A common problem occurs during the night with many patients, a drop in glucose levels known as hypoglycemia.

Due to the growing issues, researchers have made advances to try and keep those glucose levels maintained. The development of a closed loop insulin delivery, also known as an artificial pancreas has become the answer to so many health issues that result from low blood glucose levels. A closed loop insulin delivery system automatically records insulin dose judging by glucose levels, which are detected by a sensor. Through studies, the system has proven effective on teens and children alike. However, the effect the system has on adults remains unknown.

This trial study was led by Roman Hovorka of the University of Cambridge, who instructed a team of researchers. It consisted of two studies, so that comparison and efficiency of the overnight closed loop insulin delivery with conventional insulin pump therapy in adults with type 1 diabetes could be completed.

Within this trial 24 adults (10 men and 14 women) between the ages of 18 and 65 were studied upon. Every patient has used insulin pump therapy for the previous three months.

Glucose levels increased by 28 percent, with overnight patients who were using the closed loop insulin delivery.

Through this study, evidence was provided that help to prove that an overnight closed loop delivery can work both safely and effectively to help patients sleep better without have their glucose levels drop in the night.

Researchers of this study admit that the closed loop delivery, “may in the future allow more flexible lifestyles in conjunction with improved glycemic control for people with type 1 diabetes.”