The most current research project of the JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) is the Artificial Pancreas Project. The Artificial Pancreas, in my opinion, is one of the most interesting and amazing inventions I have heard of. It is a machine, sort of like the insulin pump, but the huge difference between the Artificial Pancreas (yes, other than the capital letters) and the insulin pump is that it runs by itself. The Artificial Pancreas takes a reading of your blood sugar through a sensor in your skin and sends it to a monitor that would be in a purse or pocket(based on your gender or personal preference). Then that monitor would send a signal to the sensor to dispense insulin according to that blood sugar. No checking sugar or manually giving insulin!!!! It's automatic. For a type 1 diabetic, that sounds like heaven. Something that only happens in our dreams right? NOPE! It is possible in real life!
When, you might ask? Well they have gone through clinical trials in hospitals where the patients have been closely monitored and have been successful with minor changes needed. They are now performing clinical trials in the home. Doctors and researchers have said that it will be about one or two years, give or take some time, that this device will be open for patients to own and to use to control their diabetes in their every day life. This project was completely funded by JDRF and was on by JDRF researchers. That is where the money goes when people donate to my team, TEAM ASHLEY (topic for another post).
I have linked two videos to this blog because of two reasons. First, these videos are my sources for the information included in this post. Second, these videos were incredibly moving and informative. When I heard there was going to be a special about the Artificial Pancreas Project and the clinical trials attached I immediately set an alarm on my phone to remind me to watch it. As my family and I sat down in front of the television and observed this video footage, tears welled up in my eyes as they are currently while writing this. The thought of having a machine that would take care of my diabetes without my help would be simply life changing. As the girl in the first video says, “If this comes into play, I can live a life like I did before.” It would eliminate the precautions I have to take and the work I have to put into it. Sure, I would still have to change the site and put insulin in the machine. Yes I would have to do this as I do with the pump, but the fact that I wouldn’t have to check my blood sugar or deal with most of the other perils of diabetes…well that is breathtaking. I can only imagine what that would be like. As I watched the second video, I was very pleased with the results of this as well. The Artificial Pancreas project began on December 19, 2005 in Lister Hill Auditorium. A doctor on the case, William Clarke, calls the Artificial Pancreas a “major breakthrough for the management of Type 1 Diabetes”. The device runs off of a huge math equation called a logarithm. Until recently, this logarithm did not exist, but now researchers have developed it. It gives a formulated dose of insulin every fifteen minutes to reduce highs as well as lows. In the second video, the Artificial Pancreas was called a “lifesaver”. The subject of this video said he no longer worried about his blood sugars or even about going to bed at night, as many diabetics do. That is a problem I have had a lot. Just ask my boyfriend how many times I have said the words "I don't want to go to sleep. I am scared" to him. This invention is said to “dramatically impact lives of type 1 diabetics” and when it is available for the public, I can promise I will be doing everything I can to obtain one.
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