Technology

If you have diabetes, you are one of an estimated 23.6 million Americans who have either type 1 (insulin-dependent) or type 2 (non-insulin dependent) diabetes. And the numbers continue to climb. Vigilant monitoring is required to effectively keep glucose levels in a healthy range. Chronically elevated glucose in the blood can lead to serious complications, or eye, kidney, heart, and nerve disease. Fortunately, new technologies offer more convenient ways to manage the disease and prevent complications.

In the past, your doctor had to perform blood sugar testing. Products now allow you to check your A1C levels at home using a finger prick test with results available within minutes—no waiting in the doctor’s office and no waiting for results to return from the lab.

The accuracy of these home tests may vary, though. If you’re interested in using one, your doctor can recommend a product and teach you how to use it. Remember, too, that you need to share the test results with your doctor so she can make adjustments to your plan as necessary.

Promising New Developments

Researchers are constantly working on new treatments, some of which have already been used successfully by people with diabetes throughout the world. These include inhaled, transdermal (skin patch), and oral replacements for those ever present needles, and alternative medications to enhance the release of insulin from the pancreas, manipulate certain hormones to balance glucose levels, and prevent complications of diabetes.

Of course, the ultimate solution for people who are insulin-dependent would be to enable the body to make its own insulin again. Better methods for transplanting healthy islet cells (insulin producers of the pancreas) or coaxing stem (embryonic) cells to produce insulin may one day offer a cure for diabetes.

Even without a cure, new technologies have brought the management diabetes a long way since the discovery of insulin in 1921.