Diabetes in a Technology Age

What I seem to be finding more and more in recent times is the involvement and incorporation of technology in all aspects of diabetes. The addition of technology in the treatment of many health issues has only naturally become more popular as technological advances in medicine strive. I have seen the incorporation of a variety of technology in both clinical practice, academic research and patient treatment of diabetes and it is finally getting great traction from physicians, researchers and patients after a number of years. Accessibility and convenience of new devices, therapies, protocols and compliance aids are among the strongest reasons for this recent surge in the incorporation of technology in diabetes care.

Following many discussions with my colleagues and peers we seem to be asking the same question ‘Why have the government not gotten behind this technology as treatment movement?’ It seems absurd that relatively low cost technology that can improve treatment and quality of life is taking so long to get the attention of government officials and people responsible for making healthcare policy decisions. Some of my peers suggested that there is currently just not enough research conducted and therefore evidence to support the use of technology as conjunctive treatment of diabetes. For me this is simply not the case. There have been numerous studies examining the effects of various technological aids in the treatment of diabetes from glucometers, compliance devices, insulin pumps and artificial pancreas. Each and every new device, protocol and therapy is tested on some scale to insure its efficacy and effects, most of which display positive results which would be beneficial to the user.

So simply I think the questions I want to discuss from this post is why are the health services not backing these advances? Why are these technologies not being made available through public healthcare systems if they show they can improve patient health, well being, quality of life and even reductions in other medical services? Why are the patients and physicians not trying more to make their own lives easier by pushing for these amenities?

This is a topic that has been heavily discussed on my Twitter account and I hope this only makes for more debate surrounding the topic. If you ever have any questions, or wish to just keep up to date on the latest work, then follow me on Twitter @DeanMinnock

By Dean Minnock

Physiologist at InsulCheck