Based on first hand experience, people with Type 1 Diabetes have to poke their fingers for blood checks at least 5 times a day, take their insulin injections almost 4 or more (depending on your eating and blood sugar levels), along with doctor visits, nutritionist visits, bloodwork and more. Not to mention dealing with the fact that this is going to be your daily routine for the rest of your life.
Thankfully, research and medical advancements are going to make mine and millions of others lives a whole lot easier. As nanotechnology tears down barriers of care, researchers are developing new and innovative ways to live with and treat diseases. My pancreas, is on the fritz, it doesn’t produce islet cells which is helps to produce insulin. However, in the future, I may be able to inject nanoparticles that are designed to detect my blood sugar levels and help me to secret insulin (Trafton, 2013). If this becomes approved, I would never have to poke my fingers or inject myself with insulin ever again. I would still have diabetes, but it wouldn’t come with the baggage. “The nanoparticles are in a gel and it made the lab mice have a normal blood sugar level for an average of 10 days” (Trafton, 2013).
Another technological advancement is tattoos. “Harvard and MIT researchers have developed smart tattoo ink capable of monitoring health by changing color to tell an athlete when she is dehydrated or a diabetic when his blood sugar rises”(Powell, 2017). This advancement can be used to treat more illnesses than just diabetes. Although it will be a long time until this technology can be used on humans, it is still a step forward in our world evolving and developing.
These will make such a difference in a diabetics life just by eliminating the need to poke your finger multiple times a day. I confess, this is the biggest reason I don’t check my levels as much as I should, it definitely doesn’t tickle.
To read more about DermalAbyss and how it will enhance the lives of diabetics and how it is used with the skin on your body, check out Science Alerts article by Signe Dean. Link: https://www.sciencealert.com/mit-is-working-on-colour-changing-tattoo-ink-that-can-monitor-your-health-in-real-time
References:
Glucose sensor temporary tattoo. YouTube. (2010, March 15). Retrieved February 6, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfeykCmbiEc&feature=youtu.be
Powell, A. (2017, September 28). Harvard researchers help develop ‘smart’ tattoos. The Harvard Gazette. Retrieved February 6, 2019, from https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/09/harvard-researchers-help-develop-smart-tattoos/
Saenz, A. (2010, June 10). Nanotechnology ‘Tattoos’ To Help Diabetics Track Glucose Levels. SingularityHub. Retrieved February 6, 2019, from https://singularityhub.com/2010/06/10/nanotechnology-tattoos-to-help-diabetics-track-glucose-levels/#sm.0000b1dsknd65d3yq5o1z0w96r0bo
Trafton, A. (2013, May 16). Nanotechnology could help fight diabetes. MIT News. Retrieved February 6, 2019, from http://news.mit.edu/2013/nanotechnology-could-help-fight-diabetes-0516
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