Comment tl;dr -- This is not a cure / nor a conqueror (Score 1) 58
All,
This is Jeff from Tulsa. Long time listener, first time caller.
I have Type 1 diabetes, and have since 1981, just before my 12th birthday. (Ronald Reagan had just become Pres, and the US hostages from Iran were just arriving on American soil.) That's 40+ years.
Facts -- The tech surrounding diabetes HAS gotten more useful and life-extending. However, none of it is a cure.
Insulin pumps (with some auto-dosing capabilities) are a wonderful thing. Continuous Glucose Monitors (even though invasive) can also be wonderful devices for monitoring sugars. (I am a Tandem T-Slim user with a Dexcom G6 CGM hookup. I WILL not use any other current pairing. Minimed's system does NOT hold a candle to the Dexcom/Tandem. I've used it and various other pumps in the 25 years I've been pumping.)
Even if commercially available closed loop systems arrive -- it would be great. But not a cure.
AS someone else posted, diabetes is a 24 hr/day, 365 day/yr for the REST of your life condition. Always monitoring, always having to be prepared (did I pack the spare pump parts? did I pack the insulin? do I have test strips? where's the peanut candies for when I go low? is the pump battery charged? Have I paid my medical bills? How ~much~ is life insurance? etc etc etc)
But that's just the start of it. You wake up in the middle of the night and need to use the bathroom or let the cat out for the 12th time. You walk JUST near a door handle. Bam! Your tubing has been pulled out of your body and the pump has hit the floor. Not only do you now have to pee or deal with the cat, but you now get to prime an infusion set, insert it, get things running again. And oh yeah, "Please be sure and check your blood glucose in 1 to 2 hours." What's this? The pump cannot be exposed to salt water? There goes snorkeling and scuba diving. Never mind airport "security".
Someone else posted, if internalized, some of the issues are handled. But it creates others. How do you charge an embedded pump? Where is the insulin stored? Inside the pump, inside your body? NOPE. Unsafe. Pump leaks, you die. There is NO counter agent for an insulin overdose. Glucagon will signal to your liver to dump out stored sugars, but once dumped, there are no more, and if one dump isn't enough, you will die.
Of course -- that's still not a normal life. With an embedded piece of tech, there come limitations.
Can I play soccer or other contact sport? Probably not -- the pump could break, etc. Broken parts in the body are bad for organs. Can I ride a roller coaster? Hmm. The G-forces might cause the pump to give an unexpected dose of insulin. Bad pump, bad. Or the new high speed magnetic launch systems might overload the pump and cause weirdness. (Shielding would make the pump HUGE and thus not sized for internal use.) These are just 2 examples of many why pumps (external or internal) will NEVER be a cure. No matter how well the closed loop software gets. (And NO, its not AI
The only cure for diabetes (Type 1) is beta cells back in my body, not being killed by my auto-immune system. And their use must be Anti-Rejection drug free. Period.
Until there's a wet-ware, biological cure -- there is no cure. Stop the hype.
jeff
PS -- Every 10 years since I was first diagnosed I was told there would be a cure in 10 years. Its been 4 decades - still no cure. Don't even get me started on insulin (way overpriced), Test Strips (also overpriced), use once items, etc. etc. etc. This disease makes all diabetics a cash cow for pharmaceutical conglomerates and their shareholders. There is NO way that the same insulin that cost me $25 30 years ago should cost $300 now. Insulin -- one of the most expensive liquids on the planet.
