Thanks to Technology

In this picture you can see the glucose stream of a person with diabetes (7)

      The use of technology in the last 50 years has increased so much in people’s everyday lives. One place in particular that technology had played and extreme role is in the health of people. Some technology used today to help people with their health issues are a blood glucose monitor for those with diabetes called Accu-chek. Another invention used is insulin which helps people with diabetes maintain their blood sugar levels. 

      Many people with diabetes do not realize how much of an impact it has on their body and how much of an impact their daily in take of food has toward them. Diabetes- a chronic (lifelong) disease marked by high levels of sugar in the blood. It can cause High blood levels of glucose which leads to several problems, including: Blurry vision; Excessive thirst; Fatigue; Frequent urination (1).Diabetes affects mostly blood sugar and proper circulation. Glucose is a sugar that enters the pancreas the pancreas make insulin, at this time insulin is suppose to move the glucose out of the blood stream and into muscles, fat and liver (1). People with diabetes have higher blood sugar because ether their muscles, fat and liver cells do not take well to insulin or the pancreas do not generate enough insulin (1). High blood sugar is manageable depending on what you eat and drink through out the day. Many doctors recommend self testing blood sugar throughout the day. Their are many new inventions that help people take their own blood sugar at home (1). One device is called  Accu-chek, you use this by using the lancing device which pricks your finger and lets out a bit of blood(2). You then get a test strip which absorbs the blood and in just a few minutes you receive the results of your blood sugar(2). Self testing helps people to get an idea of how well their diet, and medication are working. Also it helps to see if your blood sugar is too high or to low, if it is high or low then it is recommended to see a doctor and get things checked out. The self monitoring device makes it easier for people with diabetes to maintain the proper blood sugar levels and also become more aware of how serious their condition really is.

This device is the Accu-chek which includes the needle,
test strip and the blood intake controller which reads
what the sugar lever is. (6)

This what the insulin used by diabetics looks like. (5)

     Another helpful use of technology would be insulin. Insulin has become another extremely important medication in the lives of many diabetics. It is used to decrease the amount of glucose in the blood stream. It also helps with long term causes to the eyes, kidneys, and the nerves (3). There are three different insulin’s vials, prefilled syringes, and cartridges (3). The most common used are Human recombinant insulin, insulin lispro, insulin aspart, and insulin glargine(3). I feel pretty proud to know that the inventors of insulin were Canadians. Dr. Banting, Best, Macleod and Collip are responsible for this invention created in 1921-22 at the University of Toronto. (4)

  

  Technology has progressed in the past years, helping people keep control of their illnesses and providing more helpful and accessible tools to living and maintaining a healthier life style.

Sources:

(1) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002194/

(2)http://www.accu-chek.ca/ca/en_CA/basics/monitoring.html

(3)http://www.medicinenet.com/insulin/article.htm

(4)http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=3921138928616116919

(5)http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://goldenmuscles.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/insulin.jpg&imgrefurl=http://goldenmuscles.com/steroids/insulin/&usg=__Y-zMxCg4ZdvqI9o3XEGX_a_KOWo=&h=300&w=300&sz=7&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=DaQLk3uQkaPtBM:&tbnh=157&tbnw=157&ei=EuLJTZ-OKYy50QG2u7iqCQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dinsulin%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D772%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=558&page=1&ndsp=25&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0&tx=74&ty=72
(6)http://www.roche.com/de/accu-chek_go.jpg

(7) http://www.my-diabetes-shop.com/Diabetes-Pictures1.jpg

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