Coming Soon: Robo-Pancreas
Thanks to the folks at Engaget we have learned that researchers have developed an artificial pancreas complete with a remote device that monitors your blood sugar, morning, noon and night. 
This device could be a lifesaver for those with diabetes, particularly juvenile diabetes, if it could be a permanent implant that would allow for constant monitoring of blood sugar levels and injection of insulin from the device, says MIT Technology Review. One would hope that this device can be made accessible, affordable, and is proven to be safe for long-term use by the FDA. This device could potentially make disease management for diabetes incredibly simple and easy.
Yet, one wonders why one would prefer to have the Robo-Pancreas when they could have a real new pancreas grown from their own cells? One wonders why the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation is pursuing this line of research rather than that of Anthony Atala at the Wake Forest Institute of Regenerative Medicine who have already engineered artificial pancrei.
Yet while the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation continues to fund this work (see the project here), it is possible that Robo-Pancreas will be available in the not too distant future.
But if it were between a cellular replacement or a robotic one, for those dealing with diabetes, the bottom line is a pancreatic replacement of some kind will result in better health outcomes for all. Only time will tell which will be the better solution.
Summer Johnson, PhD
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I will soon be the recipient of the so called robo-pancreas. There are many factors affecting this decision, not the least of which is insurance. Thankfully I have insurance, unlike millions of my fellow humans. I also have diabetes (obviously). The use of this device will allow better control of my fluctuating blood sugars and decrease the need for the multiple needle injections required everyday as well as the finger sticks needed to monitor how my body is handling the food I eat and the medication I take. At this point in time I will have an easier time getting the robo-pancreas then I will the replacement one as it is more tried and tested, thus more convincing in its effectiveness and cost then the organ replacement. Organ transplants have a 10 year life span, if you are lucky. Even if stem cells are used, there is not enough time that has passed to prove their effectiveness.
In the utlimate decision making influence (money) for insurance companies...paying for the robo pancreas and glucose monitor are cheaper then the 4 syringes, alcohol pads, 7 accu-check strips, 7 lancets, etc. I use each and everyday.
Maybe sometime in the not so near future I will be lucky enough for the real pancreas replacement. I will have to try everything else first, as I did before becoming eligible for the robo one. Time is required for everything in this world.
- by Ann Lormand-Koch on Aug 10, 2008 at 10:35 AM | link
"Life Experience" vs school
I just finished reading a very disturbing artible in the Chicago Tribune. The front page headline reads "PhD, the easy way"
The reporter Russell Working tells us how easy it was for him to get medical degrees, PhD's, etc by filling out an online form and sending (or not) in the less then $700.00 fee required. More disturbing was to read about people using these phony degrees to practice medicine and treat people. I have been in the medical profession for almost a quarter of a century, and have seen some disturbing things, but this is the scariest. Not only do I have to question the compatability of my health beliefs to my physicians, I now have to spend time on the internet to see if he/she is truly accreditied/licensed, from where, and if the program is real or bogus. With the lack of insurance for more than 40 million americans, how many will seek these charlatains for medical needs as no insurance is required, just cash, and at such a discount price! No one to question these snake oil salesmen, no one will report them most likely, not to mention the freedom to move away before they can be caught.
Attending school and doing the required assignments are part of the process of learning a new trade, not filling out a form on line and asking for what you want. What has happened to our society these days?
Ann Lormand Koch BSN, RN
- by Ann Lormand-Koch on Aug 10, 2008 at 10:47 AM | link