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British man with type 1 diabetes to receive tests after coming off insulin

diabetes.co.uk

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Re: British man with type 1 diabetes to receive tests after coming off insulin

#21

Post by taternuts »

pimeys wrote: post #14

I'm a programmer and I've had a type 1 diabetes for the last 21 years. It is one of the most complex things in my life to take care of when all of the insulin therapies don't really work that well and I don't wake up to the nightly hypos. Luckily I'm in the German insurance system and getting an insulin pump first and later a CGM. Already I'm using an NFC chip in my arm giving results to my phone and from there to In…

> Already I'm using an NFC chip in my arm giving results to my phone and from there to InfluxDB and Grafana. Later with a proper CGM I also get automatic alarms which wake me and my partner if the sugar gets to low.

Very cool! I've recently become friends with a type 1 diabetic and have been learning a lot about it myself. It really is an incredibly intrusive thing that involves constant supervision even with automatic pumps, constantly switching spots to place the needle that much stay in him constantly. He's actually getting a service dog in a month that's trained to wake/warn him if his blood sugar levels get too low. Have you open sourced your solution?

Re: British man with type 1 diabetes to receive tests after coming off insulin

#22

Post by pimeys »

Nilef wrote: post #20
pimeys wrote: post #14

I'm a programmer and I've had a type 1 diabetes for the last 21 years. It is one of the most complex things in my life to take care of when all of the insulin therapies don't really work that well and I don't wake up to the nightly hypos. Luckily I'm in the German insurance system and getting an insulin pump first and later a CGM. Already I'm using an NFC chip in my arm giving results to my phone and from there to In…

Interested in hearing more about that - How does the NFC chip get results?

It is the FreeStyle Libre, which has a small needle and a radio. The provided reader is not the most accurate, but you can read the results with any NFC enabled device. For Android xDrip plus is my choice and I've already contributed new features.

A disclaimer: do not use any of these if you don't know exactly what you're doing. If you do acknowledge the risks and have some backup system for measurements, this system is making the life of a type 1 diabetic much easier...

Re: British man with type 1 diabetes to receive tests after coming off insulin

#23

Post by pimeys »

taternuts wrote: post #21
pimeys wrote: post #14

I'm a programmer and I've had a type 1 diabetes for the last 21 years. It is one of the most complex things in my life to take care of when all of the insulin therapies don't really work that well and I don't wake up to the nightly hypos. Luckily I'm in the German insurance system and getting an insulin pump first and later a CGM. Already I'm using an NFC chip in my arm giving results to my phone and from there to In…

> Already I'm using an NFC chip in my arm giving results to my phone and from there to InfluxDB and Grafana. Later with a proper CGM I also get automatic alarms which wake me and my partner if the sugar gets to low. Very cool! I've recently become friends with a type 1 diabetic and have been learning a lot about it myself. It really is an incredibly intrusive thing that involves constant supervision even with automat…

https://github.com/jamorham/xDrip-plus

This is the fork I'm using and I made the support for InfluxDB. If you want the cheapest CGM solution, it might be the FreeStyle Libre with a rooted android watch wrapped next to it. By paying more there are better solutions but you still need to solder an extra device to carry if you want the readings with Bluetooth, at least in Europe.

Nightscout is an open source hacker community in Europe providing support and tools if interested.

http://www.nightscout.info/

Re: British man with type 1 diabetes to receive tests after coming off insulin

#24

Post by parenthesis »

UnoriginalGuy wrote: post #9
bluemax wrote: post #4

4 years ago I got diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in my early forties. The hospital staff showed me how to manage my glucose with long acting and fast acting insuline. As a programmer I'm good with numbers so everything was pretty much under control but I started noticing that I needed less and less insuline up to the point that I needed no insuline at all. This was about a year ago. At that same time I had some new p…

You sure it was Type 1? Generally people are diagnosed with Type 1 at a very young age, since it is caused by your own immune system destroying beta cells in the pancreas, which if untreated results in eventual death. Type 2 is more often associated with age and diet. It is the most common type in particular at later ages, but some people get it younger due to genetic predisposition.

The UK Prime Minister, Theresa May, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in her mid 50s, just a few years ago.

Re: British man with type 1 diabetes to receive tests after coming off insulin

#26

Post by lutusp »

Quote: "Mr Darkes says that doctors are now 80 per cent convinced he is cured of the condition, which has never before been reversed."

I suspect (and it can't be more than a suspicion) that many of those with diabetes diagnoses never take the risk of reevaluating their physical condition, but passively continue their medication -- and that seems wise and prudent.

Maybe a carefully designed study, an animal study at first, could reveal that what happened to this individual is on the roster of possibilities, that some people have the ability to reactivate their pancreases in the right circumstances.

It's already well-established that physically active people have a lower risk for diabetes, but once the condition is diagnosed, most people start an insulin regimen that never ends. This case suggests that a person's pancreas can be reactivated -- but for how many? And is the change permanent? These are unanswered questions.

Re: British man with type 1 diabetes to receive tests after coming off insulin

#27

Post by gumby »

pimeys wrote: post #14

I'm a programmer and I've had a type 1 diabetes for the last 21 years. It is one of the most complex things in my life to take care of when all of the insulin therapies don't really work that well and I don't wake up to the nightly hypos. Luckily I'm in the German insurance system and getting an insulin pump first and later a CGM. Already I'm using an NFC chip in my arm giving results to my phone and from there to In…

> Luckily I'm in the German insurance system... I'm using an NFC chip in my arm giving results to my phone

Poor you. If you were lucky enough to use the greatest health care system in the world, USA, you could also get the Freestyle Libre CGM but would be protected from the NFC data. In the US those data can only be read by a physician; patients do not have access to the readers. Oh I notice the disposable pucks that go on the arm cost more here on Blue Shield than I would have been paying with DKV in Germany.

(Fortunately you can buy the readers OTC in France if you have a friend with a French address and can speak French. Even in Germany you can only the hardware by prescription).

Re: British man with type 1 diabetes to receive tests after coming off insulin

#28

Post by pimeys »

gumby wrote: post #27
pimeys wrote: post #14

I'm a programmer and I've had a type 1 diabetes for the last 21 years. It is one of the most complex things in my life to take care of when all of the insulin therapies don't really work that well and I don't wake up to the nightly hypos. Luckily I'm in the German insurance system and getting an insulin pump first and later a CGM. Already I'm using an NFC chip in my arm giving results to my phone and from there to In…

> Luckily I'm in the German insurance system... I'm using an NFC chip in my arm giving results to my phone Poor you. If you were lucky enough to use the greatest health care system in the world, USA, you could also get the Freestyle Libre CGM but would be protected from the NFC data. In the US those data can only be read by a physician; patients do not have access to the readers. Oh I notice the disposable pucks that…

And xDrip Plus works, if having an NFC enabled Android device. Hardware is by prescription, but if you are able to get the chips, any NFC device works with proper software.

Of course you must know what you are doing. The readings should be calibrated every week with blood, but if you do this, your Android device with xDrip Plus is giving more accurate readings compared to the official reader.

REMINDER

Do not try to do any of this if not knowing what you're doing. There is a risk of dying if you follow wrong readings and take a wrong amount of insulin.

Re: British man with type 1 diabetes to receive tests after coming off insulin

#29

Post by karmel »

Here is the story from the Northampton Chronicle that is referenced but not linked to: http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/doctors-now-80-per-ce...

Note that it is similarly without any substantive details. Not to be a naysayer, buuuutttt... knowing a fair amount about type 1 diabetes, I can suggest any number of possible explanations that are far short of "miracle." The most obvious one is that he had over-treated type 2 diabetes and increased physical activity is leading to an increase in insulin sensitivity that looks like a miraculous cure. Alternatively, especially given the late age of diagnosis, he might have Latent Autoimmune Diabetes of Adults (LADA), which is kind of like really slowly developing type 1 diabetes. The body naturally goes through ebbs and flows in relative efficiency and autoimmunity, so if he still had some functioning beta cells, a temporary period of reduced autoimmunity could allow those cells to resurge and produce enough insulin to support his body without the addition of exogenous insulin. However, that's unlikely to last if that's the case.

Again, not to pooh-pooh all theoretically good news, but... I see lots of miracle cures for diabetes in headlines, and none on the pharmacy shelves.

Re: British man with type 1 diabetes to receive tests after coming off insulin

#30

Post by yourapostasy »

pimeys wrote: post #28
gumby wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Luckily I'm in the German insurance system... I'm using an NFC chip in my arm giving results to my phone Poor you. If you were lucky enough to use the greatest health care system in the world, USA, you could also get the Freestyle Libre CGM but would be protected from the NFC data. In the US those data can only be read by a physician; patients do not have access to the readers. Oh I notice the disposable pucks that…

And xDrip Plus works, if having an NFC enabled Android device. Hardware is by prescription, but if you are able to get the chips, any NFC device works with proper software. Of course you must know what you are doing. The readings should be calibrated every week with blood, but if you do this, your Android device with xDrip Plus is giving more accurate readings compared to the official reader. REMINDER Do not try to d…

Fascinating work, thank you for undertaking it and sharing your results and code. Have you compared your readings with venous blood draws? I've read that the reason people got excited over Theranos was because they were handwavey promising venous-grade results from capillary fingerstick blood collection. There is a marked difference between the kind of blood collected between the two. I suspect we won't resolve that difference other than through calibration, until we will get to the point where we're directly sampling from implanted devices powered inductively.
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