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Editor's note: This is the final story in a four-part series on diabetes issues during Diabetes Awareness Month.
By VIKTORIA PEARSON
LVN Staff Writer
When a person was diagnosed with diabetes more than 20 years ago, it often meant blindness, kidney failure, loss of limbs and possible heart disease followed by an early death.
New advances are making it possible for people with diabetes to live long, productive and healthy lives, said Connie Honea, diabetes educator for Banner Churchill Community Hospital.
In recent years, insulin pumps have enabled some diabetics to decrease needle sticks for insulin injections with semi-automated systems, said Honea.
The pumps are generally carried in a device around the waist with a catheter and test the blood every couple of minutes, she said. The pump determines an increase or decrease of insulin through a monitoring system. Insulin is delivered by the pump or through the patient giving an injection.
"The patient must dial in a dose or accept recommendations from the pump," said Honea.
Continuous glucose monitors are a machine similar to an insulin pump that monitor glucose continuously, she said.
Inhaled insulin is another new advance recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It is now available on the market, said Honea.
Although inhaled insulin does not eliminate injections, it decreases the number of daily injections needed and may eliminate the need for injections for some patients.
"I'm so excited about this," said Honea. "It's amazing how many people will allow their diabetes to get out of control because of the fear of needles."
Smokers or recent smokers within six months and people with lung diseases cannot use the inhaler, she said. The inhalers have not been approved for children.
The inhalers use rapid-acting insulin and are approximately the size of a small flashlight, said Honea. The insulin is inhaled into the lungs. The powder then passes into the lungs and is absorbed through the bloodstream.
Several new forms of insulin have become available within the last several years, said Honea. They are designed to assist those whose diabetes must be treated with insulin to allow simpler regiments and better glucose control.
"It's exciting that with these new insulins, we can imitate the body's natural insulin secretion patterns," she said.
Ground breaking advances on the horizon are insulin pills, islet cell transplant, gene therapy and the possibility of a vaccine against diabetes, according to Lifeclinic Health Management Systems Web site www.lifeclinic.com and the American Diabetes Associations Web site www.diabetes.org.
According to these Web sites, researchers have been working to develop implantable insulin pumps. These pumps would make it possible to mimic the action of a natural insulin delivery system. They would be designed to measure blood sugar levels and deliver the exact amount of insulin needed by the body, according to the Web sites.
According to the Web sites, progress by scientists in developing an implantable capsule is being made. The capsule contains insulin-secreting cells that borrow nutrients from the body to continuously produce insulin and deliver it into the bloodstream and producing insulin indefinitely.
The discovery of a new polymer that may allow insulin pill development was reported by the American Chemical Society. The insulin pill has only been tested in animals, according to the American Chemical Society's Web site. The polymer used to coat the pill allows insulin to get into the bloodstream without being destroyed by the digestive system.
According to its Web site, experts question if a pill form of insulin will be useful because dosing is so critical and there are many variables.
A vaccine scientists in Israel developed that stopped the destruction of pancreatic beta cells in humans is being studied, according to the American Diabetes Association's Web site. This would be the world's first drug vaccine offering the possible prevention of type 1 diabetes in people at high risk or stopping its progress in people with a recent diagnosis, according to the Web site.
Scientists will be seeking the approval of FDA for the vaccine in the coming years, according to the Web site.
Viktoria Pearson can be contacted at vpearson@lahontanvalleynews.com
By VIKTORIA PEARSON
LVN Staff Writer
When a person was diagnosed with diabetes more than 20 years ago, it often meant blindness, kidney failure, loss of limbs and possible heart disease followed by an early death.
New advances are making it possible for people with diabetes to live long, productive and healthy lives, said Connie Honea, diabetes educator for Banner Churchill Community Hospital.
In recent years, insulin pumps have enabled some diabetics to decrease needle sticks for insulin injections with semi-automated systems, said Honea.
The pumps are generally carried in a device around the waist with a catheter and test the blood every couple of minutes, she said. The pump determines an increase or decrease of insulin through a monitoring system. Insulin is delivered by the pump or through the patient giving an injection.
"The patient must dial in a dose or accept recommendations from the pump," said Honea.
Continuous glucose monitors are a machine similar to an insulin pump that monitor glucose continuously, she said.
Inhaled insulin is another new advance recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It is now available on the market, said Honea.
Although inhaled insulin does not eliminate injections, it decreases the number of daily injections needed and may eliminate the need for injections for some patients.
"I'm so excited about this," said Honea. "It's amazing how many people will allow their diabetes to get out of control because of the fear of needles."
Smokers or recent smokers within six months and people with lung diseases cannot use the inhaler, she said. The inhalers have not been approved for children.
The inhalers use rapid-acting insulin and are approximately the size of a small flashlight, said Honea. The insulin is inhaled into the lungs. The powder then passes into the lungs and is absorbed through the bloodstream.
Several new forms of insulin have become available within the last several years, said Honea. They are designed to assist those whose diabetes must be treated with insulin to allow simpler regiments and better glucose control.
"It's exciting that with these new insulins, we can imitate the body's natural insulin secretion patterns," she said.
Ground breaking advances on the horizon are insulin pills, islet cell transplant, gene therapy and the possibility of a vaccine against diabetes, according to Lifeclinic Health Management Systems Web site www.lifeclinic.com and the American Diabetes Associations Web site www.diabetes.org.
According to these Web sites, researchers have been working to develop implantable insulin pumps. These pumps would make it possible to mimic the action of a natural insulin delivery system. They would be designed to measure blood sugar levels and deliver the exact amount of insulin needed by the body, according to the Web sites.
According to the Web sites, progress by scientists in developing an implantable capsule is being made. The capsule contains insulin-secreting cells that borrow nutrients from the body to continuously produce insulin and deliver it into the bloodstream and producing insulin indefinitely.
The discovery of a new polymer that may allow insulin pill development was reported by the American Chemical Society. The insulin pill has only been tested in animals, according to the American Chemical Society's Web site. The polymer used to coat the pill allows insulin to get into the bloodstream without being destroyed by the digestive system.
According to its Web site, experts question if a pill form of insulin will be useful because dosing is so critical and there are many variables.
A vaccine scientists in Israel developed that stopped the destruction of pancreatic beta cells in humans is being studied, according to the American Diabetes Association's Web site. This would be the world's first drug vaccine offering the possible prevention of type 1 diabetes in people at high risk or stopping its progress in people with a recent diagnosis, according to the Web site.
Scientists will be seeking the approval of FDA for the vaccine in the coming years, according to the Web site.
Viktoria Pearson can be contacted at vpearson@lahontanvalleynews.com
