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May 2, 2016
Research, Technology | Technology, Type 1 Diabetes
A recent study published in the journal diabetes from the group of Dr. Michael Christie at the University of Lincoln in England has identified a fifth element involved in the immune system’s destruction of beta cell (the cells that produce & secrete insulin) that cause Type 1 diabetes. Other well-understood targets include insulin and glutamade decarboxylase.
This is a welcome discovery opening the possibility of finding another point at which interventions designed to better treat type 1 diabetes might exert a beneficial effect.
At BCDiabetes we have just completed enrollment in UST1D, a study investigating the role of the use of ustekinumab a drug routinely used in the management of a form of arthritis caused by psoriasis.
For now patients with Type 1 diabetes can celebrate the fact that every month there are advances which change and improve the quality of their lives. Of all the recent advances the one I am most impatient to implement for my patients is widespread use of flash glucose monitoring. One such device, the Freestyle Libre is available in Europe but not yet in North America. The Libre is the expected on the Canadian market sometime in 2016 & to retail at around $500 for the hardware & $6/day for the consumables. Separate blood glucose calibration is not required. Interstitial glucose values are stored in the sensor but not pushed to the monitor (as with “sensors”); rather the monitor is swiped over the sensor to pull the values which are then displayed. High and low alarms are not offered.