Breakthrough in diabetes research

Sue-Ann Sempf, pictured here with her partner David, is one of many Australians living with type 1 diabetes.

Sunshine Coast Daily/Cade Mooney

THE development of an "artificial pancreas" has been hailed as a significant breakthrough in diabetes management but it could take another five years to reach diabetics.

Scientists have developed a computer program that can take two technologies currently used in diabetes management - a blood glucose sensor and insulin pump - and automate them.

It ensures the correct dosage of insulin can be automatically injected, to keep a diabetic's blood sugar level within a safe range, around the clock.

"Without a doubt, the biggest worry for parents of kids with type 1 diabetes is that their child will have a dangerous low blood sugar emergency during the night," says Australian endocrinologist and hypoglycaemia specialist Professor Tim Jones.

"This trial showed that if the children were treated with this automatic control of insulin ... they had no severe hypoglycaemia overnight."

This was a "significant reduction" from nine episodes recorded in standard treatment, he said.

Cambridge University tested the effectiveness of the UK-developed automated system, and a paper detailing the results was published on Friday in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet.

Young people aged five to 18 years who had type 1 diabetes were monitored in hospital overnight for the research.

A further trial showed the automated system safely handled two otherwise risky events for a diabetic - eating a large carbohydrate-rich meal and strenuous exercise before bed.

Prof Jones, a pediatric diabetes specialist based at Perth's Princess Margaret Hospital, said keeping blood sugar levels stable for longer would deliver broad benefits for a diabetic child.

"Research has also shown that major fluctuations in blood sugar can have a significant impact on the cognitive, psychological and behavioural development of children with type 1 diabetes," he said.

Prof Jones said further trials would be needed, and regulatory approvals sought, but the computer program was "the first step, and it's a significant step" towards an automated diabetes management system.

Insulin pumps in the future could be fitted with a computer chip containing the program, Prof Jones said.

"It will be one of those things that comes in stages, initially it may prevent your blood sugar from going too low overnight and conceivably it might be available in five years," he said.

"But it is hard to predict these things."

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) also hailed the development as groundbreaking.

"An automated diabetes management system, or artificial pancreas, is the Holy Grail for people who are living with insulin-dependent diabetes," said JDRF research manager Dr Dorota Pawlak.

"This trial is the first real proof that existing management technology can be expanded to make a dramatic difference to the lives of people living with type 1 diabetes and also their carers."

There are about 140,000 people in Australia with type 1 diabetes, a genetic condition that sees their body destroy the cells that produce insulin.

About four per cent of the population has type 2 diabetes, an acquired condition linked to obesity, and the number is rising.