A smart application through which diabetic will take pictures of his food before eating it and get calorie information so that he knows how much insulin to use so that his sugar level does not rise, developed by the Department of Nutrition of the University of Western Attica, the Department of Informatics of the University of Ioannina and the Attikon Hospital Diabetes Center. This is the European MEDDIET program, which will be completed in two years, according to Tanya H. Maduvalu, Associate Professor of the Department of Diabetes Pathology and Head of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Diabetes at the Hospital’s Diabetes Center 104.9 MYSTIC GIGEIAS “Attikon” Mr. Panagiotis Halvatsiotis said on the air of the program.

Mr. Halvatsiotis also spoke about all the latest technological developments regarding the bionic pancreas, “smart” drugs, as well as research carried out with stem cells, about the treatment regimen for hematological diseases. At present, the development of diabetes seems to be fast as clinical research, which in previous years returned to the international level due to covid, is returning more actively, considering that at the US National Institutes of Health, Professor Halvatsiotis says. , 80 new clinical trials have been registered and 300 more submitted by the end of the year.

Smart drugs for weight loss and more

“In the near future, we will see a lot of new things that will be based either on research on genetic determinations or on the treatment of problems that lead diabetics to poor health, such as cardiovascular or kidney disease, which has been revolutionized in the last five years. And that’s because permission has been given for new diabetes drugs to be given to people with heart disease or kidney failure, not necessarily diabetic. But what is already being fought hard is obesity, because it determines prediabetes, so if we reduce the percentage of obesity, then tomorrow we will see a more optimistic view. One tablet per week has already been proven to have a significant effect, but an injectable (with completed clinical studies and soon to be licensed) will soon be released that is much more effective than those already on the market “. Asked if these diet pills could cause problems for non-diabetics since some people are taking them to lose weight lately, the eminent diabetologist replied: “These are smart drugs, meaning they work with high sugar levels. If sugar is normal, they do not affect carbohydrate metabolism. Thus obese people without diabetes will also be able to take them and thus prevent the progression of obesity to diabetes. Our knowledge of pills is more than ten years, and not only for weight loss, but also for protection against coronary events.”

Stem cells and bionic pancreas

According to Mr. Halvatsiotis, there is a lot of stem cell research going on, “and since we have stem cell transplant departments for hematological diseases in many hospitals, in the near future we will probably also have ones for diabetes. In addition, a new chapter on protection against liver dysfunction is being developed. There are already technological advances that can be a bionic pancreas, and already, this technology is on the market, it just needs to be perfected, and become smaller in size, but also does not need human intervention. This is a device that continuously measures sugar levels and injects insulin, but without the participation of the patient, as in devices that are already on the market. This device connects to a mobile phone using an app, so the diabetic doesn’t have to deal with his sugar, the technology helps him regulate it. In the future, these devices could be placed under the skin so they can’t even be seen.”

Dolphins and the genetic study of diabetes

But how can nature help science take a step forward? “The National Marine Mammal Institute in the US has noticed in recent years that bottlenose dolphins can raise and lower their blood sugar levels depending on their needs. That is, they have a genetic button with which they turn diabetes on and off. When they need carbohydrates, their sugar levels rise because, for example, they want to hunt, they need energy, but when they sleep, their sugar levels drop. Another example is a frog in the Arctic Circle. In winter, during hibernation, his blood sugar rises a hundred times higher, so that he does not freeze at very low temperatures, but without creating, for example, cardiovascular problems that a rise in blood sugar from 100 to 200 creates. So, by studying the nature and dynamics she developed to deal with hyperglycemia or use it to her advantage, we believe we will have examples of how to deal with people accordingly. We have to find out which gene is based on dolphins, for example, the ability to change sugar levels, see if humans have this gene, and if they don’t have it, get it through gene therapy so that diabetics can be able to turn it on and off. your diabetes according to your needs.”

Source: RES-IPE