It's weird to think that only a few decades ago people were having to use glass syringes and boil them before injecting their insulin. Now thanks to disposable needles it takes a matter of seconds to get a pre-filled insulin pen ready to inject.
I'm not grateful in the slightest to have this condition, however I am extremely grateful that due to medical advances I should have a pretty normal life. There are so many different ways to deliver insulin now with pre-filled pens for MDI patients and varieties of insulin pumps for people to choose from in order to control their BG levels. We can also now download our BG results from our snazzy meters on to our laptops to identify trends/patterns ready for the next appointment with the DSN/Consultant. There is also another little beeping device (aka a Continuing Glucose Monitor) which lets you know if you're about to go too low/too high << I'd love one of these!
D Technology at the moment is great, however it is always evolving and getting better which is how it should be until a cure can be found! It definately needs to be reaching as many people suffering with D as possible, I imagine that there are thousands out there who have never even seen what an insulin pump looks like or a CGM, and because they're so expensive they probably never will.
As this technology is still relatively new, accuracy is still a pretty big issue. For me being on MDI my biggest issue is meter accuracy. One finger can be 2-3mmol different from another and it's incredibly frustrating because I depend heavily on my meter results.
What are you supposed to do if you can't trust your own BG meter?
Fixing this kinda problem would be brilliant and would give PWD so much more confidence in the D products they are using. Without it we are pretty much guestimating 24/7 which isn't fun especially when you get it seriously wrong. Also giving every PWD the opportunity to experience these gadgets would be a big adjustment that needs fixing because they all deserve it and need it!
As I'm on MDI and have been since diagnosis, most D technology both new and shiny, and not so new get me excited! Pumps fascinate me, all the different variations available and how they work (pre-warning to people at the Brighton meet with pumps!) and also CGMs. I've only ever seen them on DOC blogs as I think they're more widely used in the USA (along with pumps). Of course the Artificial Pancreas is a biggy, with trials currently underway in France let's hope it's a step closer to finding a permanent cure :)
This post is my July entry in the DSMA Blog Carnival. If you’d like to participate too, you can get all of the information at http://diabetessocmed.com/2011/july-dsma-blog-carnival/
Sunday, 10 July 2011
DSMA July Blog Carnival - D Technology
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4 comments:
Emma- I feel the same way you do! I am thankful for the advances but diabetes technology has a long way to go. I hope the meter accuracy is one of the first issues (diabetes) medical device companies address.
Be Blessed
Cherise
I feel that the workload (even with increased technology) is un-friggin-believable. I would love to see the technologies of the future decrease the never-ending-ness of the care.
I am also grateful for technology, though as you said, technology (even with insurance) can be unaffordable to many people living with D. It is one expensive condition!
I'm with you, still on MDI. Pumps totally fascinate me too! One day... :)
Great post and I agree with everything you said. Especially the meter accuracy - we really need meters we can depend on, since we dose our insulin off of the results they give us!
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