This article is from page 4 of the 2012-03-20 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
INJECTIONS, finger pricking, and measuring carbohydrate intake could be a thing of the past for 300 adults and children from Clare with type one diabetes, as progress in made on research into an artificial pancreas.
Latest developments in the area have given new hope to the 300 Clare people, and the findings of the latest research will be presented to those from the county with diabetes on Tuesday next, March 27.
While many Clare patients are still waiting to be fitted with the most up- to-date treatment form – an insulin pump, the new artificial pancreases, which would make life easier for those with diabetes, could be available within the next decade.
The long-sought system will be made up of insulin pumps and glucose sensors that deliver insulin to diabetics, mimicking the function of a real pancreas.
“While the current state of insulin replacement therapy is appreciated for its life-saving capability, the task of manually managing the blood sugar levels with insulin alone is arduous and inadequate. The goal of the artificial pancreas is to improve insu- lin replacement therapy so that blood glucose control is practically normal and to ease the burden of therapy for the patient with type 1 diabetes,” explained Gráinne Flynn, Secretary of the Diabetes Ireland Clare Branch.
Cambridge University researcher Janet Allen, who is working on the Artificial Pancreas Project, will be among the speakers. The Artificial Pancreas Project focuses on developing an artificial pancreas system, which hopes to solve one particular aspect of living with type 1 diabetes – controlling glucose levels overnight. The team at Cambridge are developing a system that would be able to take over managing insulin delivery at bedtime and will keep the glucose levels in check until the patient wakes up in the morning. They are also working towards getting a system ready for families to test out at home.
Organised by Diabetes Ireland Research Alliance (DIRA) in association with Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) the meeting will take place in The Greenhills Hotel next Tuesday at 7.30pm during which the public can hear from the experts on the latest cutting edge type 1 diabetes research and how to help find a cure.