What is the future for diabetes treatment?

[Northerner]

Could there be a future without diabetes? Dr Matthew Hobbs and Professor Roy Taylor discuss projects committed to improving the care and treatment of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, and ultimately finding a cure.

The future of treating Type 1 diabetes

There are few conditions that science has made such a fundamental impact on as Type 1 diabetes - the first use of insulin in the 1920s transformed it from a death sentence into something people can live with.

But even today, Type 1 diabetes typically involves a lifetime of daily injections and, on average, people with it die younger than the rest of the population. This is why we urgently need more research into the condition.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/0/21478094

 

[Dory]

really interesting article - thanks Alan!

 

[mcdonagh47]

Could there be a future without diabetes? Dr Matthew Hobbs and Professor Roy Taylor discuss projects committed to improving the care and treatment of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, and ultimately finding a cure.

The future of treating Type 1 diabetes

There are few conditions that science has made such a fundamental impact on as Type 1 diabetes - the first use of insulin in the 1920s transformed it from a death sentence into something people can live with.

But even today, Type 1 diabetes typically involves a lifetime of daily injections and, on average, people with it die younger than the rest of the population. This is why we urgently need more research into the condition.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/0/21478094

This bit is fascinating ....what would current medics make of it, with their usual response of "go away and come back in a few weeks to see the practice nurse".....

"The diagnosis of type 2 diabetes may in future be regarded as a medical emergency. The body's metabolism is being "gummed up" by excess fat in important organs. The concept of emergency surgery is familiar to all. We should become accustomed to the concept of emergency medical therapy - a very low calorie diet to achieve a drop in body weight of 15% within weeks."

So a dx of Type 2 should be a medical emergency requiring immediate action ! How does that chime with the dozens/hundreds of newbies introducing themselves in the Newbies Thread who have just been allowed to flounder ?

Even when they are told to follow "Diet and Exercise" there is NO specific diet plan or exercise programme for them ...."D&E" is just a vacuous phrase.

 

[Northerner]

This bit is fascinating ....what would current medics make of it, with their usual response of "go away and come back in a few weeks to see the practice nurse".....

"The diagnosis of type 2 diabetes may in future be regarded as a medical emergency. The body's metabolism is being "gummed up" by excess fat in important organs. The concept of emergency surgery is familiar to all. We should become accustomed to the concept of emergency medical therapy - a very low calorie diet to achieve a drop in body weight of 15% within weeks."

So a dx of Type 2 should be a medical emergency requiring immediate action ! How does that chime with the dozens/hundreds of newbies introducing themselves in the Newbies Thread who have just been allowed to flounder ?

Even when they are told to follow "Diet and Exercise" there is NO specific diet plan or exercise programme for them ...."D&E" is just a vacuous phrase.

Indeed, let's hope it's not too long before it is taken much more seriously by the medical profession (many of whom probably still talk about 'mild' and 'severe' diabetes )

 

[ypauly]

I hope the future contains a maintenance free (maybe top up of insulin) mechanical solution that can be implanted to give people with type 1 a normal life.

Type 2 is a bit different as exercise can be a big factor/help (type 1's would benefit also). I don't know about the rest of the nation but in birmingham we have been having a lot of sports and social clubs closing, mostly due to a lack of members, finacial issues or just completely uninterested neighbourhoods.

How do we get people back from behind laptops, games consoles and televisions and actually doing something that can be just as much fun but involve a little physical effort.

I play crown green bowls and have seen so many clubs that house the greens go bust in the years I have been playing, which is nearly 200 greens since 1990. many of them in pubs that closed but many in clubs that also lost cricket,football, darts, snooker and even tennis facilities.

It is such a shame as the service and enjoyment these clubs provide at usually reasonable prices I believe must save an awful lot of medical costs.


How do we change this = no idea from me.

 

[Jimbo]

This bit is fascinating ....what would current medics make of it, with their usual response of "go away and come back in a few weeks to see the practice nurse".....

"The diagnosis of type 2 diabetes may in future be regarded as a medical emergency. The body's metabolism is being "gummed up" by excess fat in important organs. The concept of emergency surgery is familiar to all. We should become accustomed to the concept of emergency medical therapy - a very low calorie diet to achieve a drop in body weight of 15% within weeks."

So a dx of Type 2 should be a medical emergency requiring immediate action ! How does that chime with the dozens/hundreds of newbies introducing themselves in the Newbies Thread who have just been allowed to flounder ?

Even when they are told to follow "Diet and Exercise" there is NO specific diet plan or exercise programme for them ...."D&E" is just a vacuous phrase.

I learned more about D from this forum than the doctor ever told me, yes Diet and Exercise and no detail or suggestion of how to go about it, plus, I didn't start to feel as though they (Dr's) were particularly interested in the "lifestyle" that had created the condition's diagnosis (in their opinion). It was like he's a fat bugger it's his own fault.
It wasn't until I started seeing the DSN that I felt that I was being taken care of, cared for and about. The DSN at my surgery is great, forthright and sensitive, a lovely example of the type of care we should all receive from the NHS.