THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With diabetes emerging as a major health challenge today, advanced technology is making monitoring and treatment of the disease more effective and patient-friendly.
Continuous glucose monitoring system
The continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS) was introduced in the late 1990s as a means of measuring the day-to-day glycemic excursions in patients with diabetes. The CGM device consists of a sensor inserted into the subcutaneous tissue, a reader which is worn by the patient and a computer software for generating graphs and reports upon downloading the data from the reader.
CSII pump
The CSII pump represents an attempt to provide insulin in a more physiological manner to patients with diabetes, avoiding the peaks and troughs in insulin levels seen with multiple injections.
The CSII pump consists of a subcutaneous cannula inserted into the interstitial space, a connecting tubing and a small pager-sized, battery-operated pump which has the insulin reservoir as well as a microchip that controls insulin delivery according to pre-programmed rates.
Artificial pancreas (AP)
The artificial pancreas (AP) is an automated system that mimics physiological functioning of the normal endocrine pancreas by using pumps to continuously adapt hormone delivery based on changes in glucose levels which are measured by glucose sensors.
The device uses continuous glucose measurements to automatically manage exogenous insulin delivery with or without other hormones in an attempt to restore glucose regulation. Mobile Technology (mHealth)
In many developing countries, mobile phone penetrance is high. Transmission of health care messages through short messaging services (SMS) is therefore an attractive and potentially effective means of bringing about behavioral change. The potential for regular and repetitive messaging is particularly attractive in cases of chronic diseases like diabetes, where patients need to monitor their lifestyle on a long-term basis.
Advances in food technology
With developments in food processing technology, most of the rice available in the market is of the highly polished white variety, which contains low amounts of dietary fibre and has a high glycemic index.
Brown rice has been shown to have a lower glycemic index, but unfortunately, brown rice suffers from low levels of consumer acceptance.
Efforts were therefore made to develop a variety of rice which retains the favorable sensory and cooking properties of white rice, but has higher fibre content and a lower glycemic index. Widespread use of this rice variety can be expected to increase the dietary fibre intake of the population and may help protect against development of diabetes and in better glycemic control in those who already have diabetes.
Dr V Mohan
Chairman and Chief of Diabetology, Dr Mohan’s Diabetes
Specialities Centre