On Thursday night, I attended the annual research update hosted by JDRF. I have been to a few of these in the past, but the is the first one I have been able to attend in about 3 years.
Dr. Alan Kowalski, a JDRF scientist, also has type 1 diabetes. His brother does, too. So when he presents, you know that he is dedicated to finding a cure because he has a personal connection. He takes the scientific terminology and presents in such a way that anyone can understand.
On to the important stuff: There are lots of great things on the horizon. One of the most interesting is Smartinsulin. This would be one injection per day. The insulin is released when needed, as a result of the glucose. I can't explain it nearly as well as he did, but here is the website: http://www.smartinsulin.com/index.html It has been tested this year on animals and will begin to be tested on humans in the next year or so. The final product is still several years from being on the market, but it holds great potential and I am very excited about that.
The closest update is a Minimed pump that will shut off automatically (when used in conjunction with the CGM) when your blood sugar is too low and you do not react to the alarms. For example during the night, if your blood sugar drops below the low range, the alarm will sound. If you do not react to the alarm after a few times, the pump will shut off and not continue to pump the basal. If lows can be prevented, then the reactive highs can be prevented as well. This device has already been approved in Europe and we are just waiting for the FDA to approve it. This should be out within a year.
Research has showed that when the CGM has been used for at least 6 days per week, the AIC was much better - for all age ranges, children 8-14, teens 15-24, and adults 25 and older.
I feel very inspired and excited to see what is out there on the horizon for diabetes care. The ultimate goal for the JDRF researchers is to find a cure, however, in the mean time they are doing all they can to make our lives both easier and healthier.
If you have the opportunity to attend the Research Update in your area, I highly recommend it!!! JDRF also has an area for the kids, so your kids can go along and they are being taken care of in another room so you can hear all of the great information the scientist has to share.
Thank you,exciting things ahead.!
smartinsulin sounds awesome! I hope it works out. This is exactly what I'm looking for. Pumps and CGMs and all that are great I guess, but I want to spend LESS time dealing with diabetes not more. Thanks for telling us about this. I'll be keeping my eye out for more news.
Jeanette,
Thank you so much for posting this - I love this stuff!
Cheers!
A-D