'Manmade Pancreas' For Diabetes Sufferers
3:27am UK, Tuesday June 02, 2009
A breakthrough insulin pump designed to mimic the human pancreas is being introduced for diabetics in the UK.
The artificial pancreas may improve quality of life for diabetics
The pump - called the Paradigm Veo - automatically stops the flow of insulin to the body if blood sugar levels fall too low.
It is designed to help prevent hypoglycaemic attacks - commonly known as "hypos" - which can leave diabetics in a coma and can kill.
Peter Hammond, a consultant diabetologist at Harrogate District Hospital, said: "This latest technology is a significant breakthrough which will help people with diabetes to control their condition.
"Paradigm Veo alerts the patient if their glucose levels drop too low, and stops them getting more insulin if they don't respond to the alert.
"This will have a huge impact on the patient's quality of life, giving them greater flexibility and reducing anxiety, and protecting them against the long-term health complications of diabetes."
Some 5,000 people in the UK currently use insulin pumps, although NHS doctors follows strict criteria on who is eligible.
Manufacturer Medtronic said diabetics in the UK and Ireland will be the first in the world to use a new technology, which combines an insulin pump with continuous blood sugar monitoring (often known as glucose monitoring).
The new pump costs about £2,850 - around £100 more than current devices, according to Medtronic.
The pump is only suitable for people with Type 1 diabetes, which affects around 300,000 people in the UK.
Type 1 usually develops in childhood and differs to Type 2, which is linked to obesity and unhealthy lifestyles.
Karen Addington, chief executive of Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, said some 25,000 Type 1 diabetics in the UK are children.
"Achieving good blood glucose control can be difficult but significantly reduces the risk of long-term complications, so access to developments
in treatments and technology, such as this, are vital to keep people with type 1 diabetes as healthy as possible, until we find the cure."
Pretty far from a real pancreas,but it may save some lives of people that just don't get how important it is
to test, test and test!
Itsme Wayne
