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Diabetics who must
measure their blood sugar levels with needle injections may soon have
a pain-free alternative in the form of a handheld ultrasound machine,
almost as accurately as needles. It's significant because the ultrasound
method would be a way to measure glucose levels that would be painless
for the patient.
Diabetes occurs when
blood sugar, or glucose, a source of body fuel, is too high and the body
is not able to burn it. The disease can lead to blindness, organ diseases,
stroke and death. Some diabetes patients must measure their glucose levels
daily by pricking the skin and drawing a tiny amount of blood. They also
must reduce their glucose levels by using needles to inject insulin into
their bloodstream.
In the clinical trial,
a single burst of low-frequency ultrasound was applied to the surface
of the skin to make it permeable, allowing glucose to cross the skin surface
and be measured. Patients' glucose levels were measured every 15 minutes
for four hours. The study used patients with type 1 diabetes, which typically
occurs in children and young adults and requires daily insulin injections
to reduce glucose levels.
Type 2 diabetes occurs
more frequently in older adults and can be managed with oral medication.
Researchers took blood from one of the patients to just be sure the new
method had the correct results. "Both methods had almost the identical
readings," he said. The researchers hope to conduct a larger trial later
this year and that the method could be available to diabetics in a couple
of years. A handheld device has been developed so patients can ultimately
do the test at home.
Nature
Medicine March 2000 6:347-350
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