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Diabetes First successes with newly developed artificial pancreas
In Germany alone, around 400,000 people suffer from type 1 diabetes. You need to inject insulin regularly because your body no longer produces this hormone itself. Researchers are now giving these patients hope: a newly developed artificial pancreas has been successful in initial tests.
Measure blood glucose levels and calculate insulin levels
Millions of people worldwide suffer from type 1 diabetes, in Germany there are around 400,000. How much the metabolic disease bothers citizens also shows that diabetes is the second most common of the 50 most sought-after diseases on the web. Diabetes patients are generally required a lot of patience. Every few hours, they have to measure the blood sugar level and calculate how much insulin they need to administer. A few months ago, scientists from Dresden and Munich reported having achieved first successes on the way to a vaccine to protect against type 1 diabetes, but much more research was needed. Now a message from Austria prepares hope: in the future, an artificial pancreas should spare the annoying procedure of measuring and calculating and prevent incorrect insulin doses. As the Medical University (Med-Uni) Graz announced, the security of the system has now been confirmed in a three-month home use.
The success with artificial pancreatic glands can be hoped for a successful treatment in type 1 diabetes. (Image: tibanna79 / fotolia.com) Avoid consequential damage from diabetes
An elevated blood sugar level (high blood sugar) is a typical sign of diabetes. "In healthy people, insulin is released by the islet cells of the pancreas as needed and kept the blood sugar levels on a stable level," said Julia Mader of the Clinical Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism of the Med-University Graz to the news agency APA. In order to prevent the consequences of diabetes such as high blood pressure, damage to the kidneys and diabetic neuropathy (polyneuropathy), sufferers have to keep their blood sugar levels as many times daily measurements and insulin administration as optimal as possible.
However, according to Mader, estimating actual insulin requirements often poses a challenge to the patient and poses some risk. Therefore, in recent years, much time has gone into the further development of glucose measurement systems and developed sensors that can measure continuously in the subcutaneous fat tissue.
Artificial pancreas tested
With the participation of the Medical University of Graz, a system (Artificial pancreas at home, AP @ home) was recently developed, which is made up of a continuous blood glucose measurement system and a pump for needs-based insulin delivery: So, in effect, an artificial pancreas (pancreas) , Among the international project partners of Thomas Pieber and Julia Mader at the Med-University were, among others, the University of Cambridge (UK) and researchers of the Metabolic Research Institute in Neuss. The scientists announced that, after the first 24-hour measurements at the Med Uni's Clinical Research Center and the first one-week home applications, 33 adult patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus have been testing the system for three months at home.
Improvement for the patients
The results of the researchers have now been published in the current issue of the journal "New England Journal of Medicine" (NEJM). The co-author Mader described that the patients with the use of the system remained about eleven percent longer in the optimal blood sugar range than those of the control group. Furthermore, the mean blood sugar level was eleven mg / dl lower. "An improvement in long-term sugar could be achieved with reduced hypoglycaemia," the study authors explained. (Ad)