Though we are all hopeful for an eventual cure for Type 1 diabetes, the continued wins researchers are seeing in their quest to create an artificial pancreas is heartening.

Most of the focus in the news recently is on recent improvements in combining insulin pump technology with continuous blood glucose monitoring.  Intuitively it would seem simple.  Have a single device that measures blood glucose on a continuous basis and based on readings release insulin into the body.

Ah, but nothing is as easy as it seems.  Numerous challenges exist, but a key one is the lag between food consumption, what a glucose monitor measures, and the ability to get insulin into the system.  What needs to happen is to be able to predict glucose levels based on types of foods being eaten and immediately release the insulin to welcome the food. (Our body’s ability to do this is simply remarkable)

There are folks working on this problem luckily.  A recent article in US News and World Report describes the effort of a team of mathmaticians, let by Boris Kovatchev, that are developing algorithms based on specific individual’s insulin requirements.  So far they’ve had some luck.

Another group attempting to tackle this are out of the University of California Santa Barbara.  They recently released results of a study of a software program that they have developed to do just this kind of anticipation and ensure that not too much insulin is released.

Soon enough (in the next year or two? maybe?) all-in-one devices will be on the market to help manage this disease.

Before you were around someone with diabetes had you ever thought about your pancreas?  Probably not.  But once forced to understand glucose levels and insulin dosage you’re bound to really want to know what this organ was meant to do.

Essentially one of the core functions of the pancreas is to produce a protein hormone called insulin.  The production of insulin occurs continuously but fluctuates based on how many carbohydrates you are consuming.

As you eat carbohydrates they change into glucose and travel around your body.  The pancreas then kicks into action and produces just the right amount of insulin to counterbalance the glucose (amazing!).  As insulin is produced, it too travels around attaching to cell receptors throughout your body.  When glucose passes by, these insulin-laden receptors enable the cells in your body to absorb the energy or calories associated with the glucose.  The more glucose you have traveling around, the more insulin you need to absorb those calories.

Within the pancreas there are cells called beta cells that are responsible for creating your insulin.  This is where things have gone terribly wrong with Type 1 diabetes.  The beta cells have been destroyed and so the pancreas is no longer able to produce the insulin needed to help the body absorb glucose.

Without insulin in the body, a person can eat and eat but will eventually starve.  The inability to absorb the energy associated glucose (because insulin is not there on your cells) means that your body will start to look elsewhere for energy.  This is why extreme weight loss in a child is one of the warning signs of diabetes.

For those with Type 1 diabetes, because the pancreas is no longer able to produce insulin, they must provide their bodies with insulin by giving themselves injections or through a pump utilizing man-made insulin.

Though the onset of diabetes is devastating, it does help to remind us of the amazing complexity of the human body.