Artificial pancreas

Diabetes mellitus is now one of the main threats to human health and is third on the list of killers after cardiac and tumorous illnesses. What perhaps people don’t know is that diabetes is to blame for three-quarters of insults (cerebral haemorrhages), half of all heart attacks and for five of every six leg amputations due to gangrene. To these grim results of diabetes we can add the loss of kidney functions and impaired eyesight, right to total blindness. Diabetes is no respector of age; it attacks both children and the elderly alike.

We have known for a long time that this disease is con­nected with the malfunctioning of the so-called beta-cells of the pancreas which secrete the insulin hormone. ...

A healthy pancreas produces as much insuline as is needed. But diabetes patients have to take a definite dose of this hormone at a definite time without any consideration of the organism’s needs at the moment. So often these injections fail to produce the necessary effect.

The transplantation of the entire or part or the pancreas or of its beta cells produce better results. Both these methods are still in the experimental clinical stage and it is too early to speak of their wide use yet, as we still face the barrier of the biological incompatibility of tissues. [... ]

An artificial organ is oval-shaped and comparatively small —

9. x 6 x 3 cm. Inside is a tiny tank with an insulin supply, the micro-dosing device, an energy (with a recharging device) and an electronic control unit. It had a lifetime of three months. [...] Today, doctors and engineers have come up with several new, improved models of an artificial pancreas, which have been widely hailed. One is the so-called paracorporeal artificial organ, placed on the shoulder or forearm and fastened by an elastic bandage. The hormone is introduced into the organism through a thin tube which is inserted under the skin. The insulin supply lasts for 30 — 35 days.

These devices are a great success in treating the young, since they are easy to operate and, most important, don’t require surgery.

(From “Moscow News?’)

More spare parts for the human body

The promise of a longer and happier life for those who have lost vital body parts to injury or disease is coming out of laboratories and hospitals.

Artificial replacement that range from the heart and other internal organs to limbs, skin and blood are under develop­ment or in actual use. [...]

More remote is the development of an artificial device for the liver, which stores and metabilizes needed substances and destroys toxic ones. [... ]

Pancreas. Substitutions are being developed for this produ­cer of insulin, whose malfunctioning leads to diabetes. Until recently, this usually meant daily hypodermic injections of insulin to sustain life.

Now, however, insulin pumps that deliver the substance steadi­ly rather than sporadically are beginning to replace the needles.

First came a portable pump worn on a patient’s belt. Then, users as the University of Minesota received implantable pumps the size of hockey pucks. They are surgically implanted in the chest under the skin and are refilled every two weeks with insulin by syringe — a simple outpatient procedure.

(From "U.S. News & World Report")

In a significant breakthrough that could benefit the na­tion’s diabetics, scientists have produced a synthetic human insulin.

The long-sought synthesis of human insulin, made possible by the controversial recombinant DNA — gene splicing - technique, is expected to replace the animal insulin that dia­betics now must take. With commercial production, a virtually unlimited supply of the new medication could be assured within two to five years.

Some experts have warned of insulin shortages in a decade or so as the number of diabetics continues to grow. Insulin is a hormone normally produced by the pancreas and required by the body to metabolize sugar and other carbohydrates. The insulin required daily by approximately 1.5 million diabetics in the US is now derived from sheep, pigs and cows.

Another benefit: The synthetic human insulin will contain no contaminants. The animal insulin now in use is about 1 to

2. percent impure and can cause severe allergic reactions in some 5 percent of the diabetics.

They used a complicated procedure in which synthetic genes carrying the genetic code for human insulin were inserted into an E. coli bacteria strain, a type of which is typically found in the human intestine. The synthetic genes were then triggered by the bacteria to produce one of the two protein chains found in human insulin.

After being isolated and purified, the two protein chains were combined chemically in the laboratory to create the synthetic human insulin. After their success with insulin, scien­tists will likely utilize the genetic splicing technique in at­tempts to produce other vital medicines.

(From “U.S. News & World Report')