The Artificial Pancreas: What It Is And What It Does

If you’ve got type one diabetes then the chances are you’ve had it for as long as you can remember. The condition was once known as early-onset diabetes as it’s generally diagnosed in children and then stays with them for their whole lives. In a way this early diagnosis is a good thing as it gives you the chance to adapt to the new lifestyle which type one diabetes necessitates earlier. It’s much easier to adapt to change when you’re a child and are still malleable and quick to learn, adults are much less adept and changing the way they live which is one of the reasons why type two diabetes is such an epidemic at the moment.

Type one diabetics need to regularly treat themselves with insulin as their bodies don’t produce the hormone. This is the core of their condition, for some reason their bodies kill off the insulin producing beta cells in an autoimmune reaction. There are two main ways to dose yourself with insulin, these are the tried and true insulin-pen (a syringe with a very small needle) or the insulin-pump which provides you with a consistent supply of insulin subcutaneously.

There’s an issue with the insulin-pump however, despite its practicality and ease of use. The issue is that patients can easily over treat with insulin when they’re using a pump. They’re not thinking so much about it so they may not notice their blood-glucose levels plummet but this is the time in which hypoglycaemia may strike. This could leave you in a diabetic coma and is potentially fatal.
There’s a new piece of technology which could well help to solve the issues of the insulin pump. This is known as the artificial pancreas and is actually a clever algorithm which merges your insulin pump with your continual glucose monitor. It uses the data provided by the monitor to decide as and when it should dose you with insulin, meaning you only get it when you need it which massively reduces the chance of a hypoglycaemic reaction. The artificial pancreas has the potential to massively improve the lives of type one diabetics by minimising the time that they have to spend worrying about their condition.