In type 1 diabetes, the body does not produce its own insulin to regulate blood sugar levels. This autoimmune disease occurs primarily at a young age and there is currently no cure. Around 32,000 children and young people are currently living with the disease across Germany. This is a big change for the young patients because the blood sugar level has to be measured and adjusted many times a day. For them, but also for their parents, this means enormous responsibility and structuring of their everyday lives.
Automated insulin administration even for the little ones
Type 1 diabetes in small children is usually treated with sensor-assisted pump therapy. This means that the insulin level is regulated with the help of an insulin pump and in combination with a continuous measurement of glucose under the skin. Insulin requirements in this age group vary widely throughout the day and from day to day, and they are unable to respond to blood glucose levels on their own. For the parents and caregivers, this means increased attention and also short nights with many interruptions.
But that could change in the future, because a new international study with the participation of the University Medical Center Leipzig shows that automated insulin delivery systems are also an effective and safe way to regulate the insulin level in small children between the ages of one and seven. Usually these systems are only available to older children.
Insulin by algorithm
The insulin delivery system was developed at the University of Cambridge. An Android app called “CamAPS FX” is used to manage blood sugar levels. This automatically adjusts the insulin dose in combination with an insulin pump and continuous measurement of the glucose level. This is a so-called “hybrid closed-loop system”. This means that the parents give their children insulin at mealtimes, but at all other times the amount of insulin is automatically controlled by the algorithm depending on the glucose level in the blood.
The system was tested on 74 children at seven pediatric diabetes centers in the UK, Austria, Luxembourg and Germany. The results of the study showed that the app is safe and more effective than standard therapy at this age. In addition, parents have reported that they can finally sleep through the night again because they no longer have to react to high or low blood sugar levels at night. A big plus for families who have to integrate type 1 diabetes into their everyday lives, because the disease has not yet been cured and the rate of new type 1 diabetes cases is currently increasing by between three and five percent every year. It is not yet known what caused this situation. Different from that Typ-2 Diabetes it is not yet possible to say whether and which external influences on the immune system work to trigger the disease.