Diabetes is now considered by many health experts and professionals as an "epidemic" because more and more people suffer from it. The age ranges of people who become prone to it become younger and younger. And the people who are at risk are those who do not only have diabetes history in their families but also those who have developed the disease over time.
Experts say that people who have a history of diabetes in their bloodlines are the primary set of people who are at risk for this disease. But, they are not the only ones who can suffer from this chronic illness. In fact, almost everyone—especially those who have high glucose content in their blood and unable to use it—is prone to having this disease.
Recent Trends
Before, when you are diagnosed with diabetes, it is synonymous to loss of limbs, total loss of vision or blindness, kidney failure, and worst, early death. But now, this is no longer the case. Because of the trends in modern technology and advances in the medical field through research, many people with diabetes are seeing hope that they will enjoy longer and healthier their lives just like the regular people.
1 Insulin. Since diabetes is caused by lack of supply of insulin among diabetics, more and more people come up with variations with the way insulin can enter the body such as:
- implantable insulin pumps which makes it possible for the blood sugar levels to be measured so the and exact amount of insulin needed is delivered instantly;
- insulin inhalers which can aid the daily injections of insulin by providing instant relief by using rapid-acting insulin which is sprayed and inhaled through the mouth—including its coats, the throat and the tongue to pave the way for insulin to enter the into the bloodstream quickly;
- insulin pill which will use a new type of polymer can help the diabetic get insulin faster because it can allow insulin to get into the person's bloodstream without being destroyed by the digestive system; and
- new insulins which are designed to minimize the regimens and to better control glucose for people including "glargine" which is a basal insulin, the "aspart" which is a very-rapid-acting insulin, and the "75/25 lispro mixture" containing a very-rapid-acting content.
2 Monitoring and tests. These are very important to know how well the diabetic is doing. The new trends when it comes to monitoring and tests include:
- pain free glucose tests which allows the diabetic to monitor their own blood sugar without the excruciating pain of literally sticking their fingers to be able to get blood samples;
- continuous monitoring device which is a "wristwatch-like" device that give more information in how to mange diabetes effectively;
3 New treatments. Since diabetes is a chronic disease, there's no definite treatment to cure it. However, there are more and more treatments that promise better results like:
- islet cell transplant which can be effective for people with the rare type of diabetes—the type 1 diabetes—because it uses the Edmonton technique which utilize uses cells from the pancreas or islet cells coming from a donor to help the person to produce insulin;
- gene therapy which identifies that a gene called "SHIP2" can regulate the production of insulin;
4 Vaccine. Through the vaccine—containing a peptide—that stops the destruction of pancreatic cells in the human body, more and more diabetics are now hoping that they can live longer lives despite the illness.