MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Insulin management can be a burden for people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, but a bionic pancreas can do a lot of the thinking for them and help them better control their glucose levels.
The bionic pancreas is comprised of three parts that work together: a continuous glucose monitoring device that sits on the skin and senses glucose levels in the body; an insulin pump; and a computer algorithm that allows the two components to talk to each other and tells the pump how much insulin to deliver based on the glucose levels.
One of the most important benefits the bionic pancreas can provide is minimizing the risk of significantly low blood sugars because there are alarms that are set in the system to tell the pump to stop insulin delivery when the sensor detects that sugars are low or trending low. This has been shown to significantly reduce hypoglycemic events.
Ultimately, what works best for one person does not necessarily work best for everyone.
“There is no particular way to manage sugars that is going to be the right way for everyone. For many people, though, this system can be game changing in that it can much more accurately and up to the moment adjust how much insulin a person is getting based on their up-to-the-moment glucose levels. Whereas our brains can’t do that in the same way,” Jessica Perini, M.D., WVU Medicine endocrinologist, said.
“If we let this system go and do its job, it can dramatically help improve glucose control. But again, it isn’t for everybody. It doesn’t always work perfectly for everyone, and there are people who don’t like having things attached to themselves. But for many people, it can be a significant boost to living with diabetes and getting through the day knowing you have to worry less about your sugars.”
Not all insurance providers cover the bionic pancreas, but Dr. Perini said it is improving.
“It used to be very difficult to have a system like this approved for anyone who didn’t have type 1 diabetes Nowadays, it is much easier to get insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors approved for people with type two diabetes,” she said. “And, over time, we’ll see that it’s easier for anyone who needs insulin to have a system like this.”
Diabetes is the most common endocrine disease in the United States, and WVU Medicine Endocrinology offers comprehensive services and patient education to effectively manage it.
“We manage people with diabetes every day, all the time. We get calls at night. We have a clinic and a hospital system set up to help people with diabetes. We have specially trained endocrinologists and nurse practitioners, diabetes educators, and insurance specialists, all who have extensive experience working with diabetes and systems like the bionic pancreas,” Perini said.
“We look at the data sets that come from the system all the time. You can print them out and look at them and show patients how their own sugars are looking. We have vast experience working with these systems.”
For more information on WVU Medicine Endocrinology, click here. To schedule an appointment, call 855-WVU-CARE.
They manage people with diabetes everyday. But they never tell anyone to fix the way they eat which is the cause of all of the metabolic issues which allows continuous treatment to patients. It’s a business. That’s why there is no cure. Just continuous treatment with pills until your body shuts down. Stop eating sugar and ultra processed foods. It’s not easy, but it will give your body a chance. There are more people who die annually in this country from chronic disease caused by the poisons in the food supply then have died in all of the wars together in the history of this country. But no one wants to go there.