The past thirty years have seen many advances in diabetes medicine.
In the past, people who were diabetic, particularly if they had Type 1
(juvenile) diabetes, had to eliminate most carbohydrates from their
diet. If these people had diabetes medicine, it was very rudimentary
and did little to stave off the ravage effects diabetes can have on the
body. Now, though, diabetes medicine has come a long way, and people
are finding that they can live long, and relatively normal lives even
if they have this disease.
Synthetic insulin is available in
vial and epi-pen form for people who have juvenile diabetes. These
insulin types work with the body’s inability to use the insulin it
makes or its inability to produce insulin in the first place. The most
basic type of insulin is basal insulin. Diabetics can take this insulin
once a day, and if they did not eat, it would keep their blood sugar
under control. They then take bolus insulin on top of the basal to
control for eating. This type of insulin discovery has made it easier
for diabetics to medicate for what they eat instead of watching every
mouthful.
New discoveries in diabetes medicine have made diabetes
even less intrusive than before. Many people opt to use the insulin
pump, for instance, which keeps a monitor and needles on the diabetic’s
body. It allows for insulin to drip into the bloodstream more slowly so
the blood sugar can be controlled more easily. Juvenile diabetics who
are not aware of how lucky they are may not see the insulin pump as a
great breakthrough, however. Because more people have Type 2 diabetes,
which is largely a lifestyle disease, the medications available for
these people include pills, which most juvenile diabetics would
absolutely love to have instead of relying on injections multiple times
a day.