Pregnant diabetes sufferers have been given an ‘artificial pancreas’ for the first time in a breakthrough that experts hope will save the lives of thousands of babies.
Diabetes is particularly dangerous during pregnancy because fluctuating hormones mean a woman’s blood sugar levels surge and plummet wildly, which can seriously affect the baby.
But 16 British women with Type 1 diabetes gave birth to healthy infants in a Cambridge University-led trial.
They are the first women in the world to go through pregnancy with the devices, which use a tablet computer to automatically regulate insulin levels.
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Scientists have found a way to combine pumps which deliver insulin and a device that monitors glucose into a single system. Blood sugar is continuously monitored by a small sensor inserted beneath the skin of the torso, this information is sent to a tablet computer, which calculates the right amount of insulin required, and this is then pumped into the bloodstream via a small machine worn on the belt.
The trial, funded by Diabetes UK and the Government’s National Institute of Health Research, found the devices improved women’s control of blood sugar by 25 per cent.
Experts hope the artificial pancreas could be available on the NHS within two years.
Mothers with diabetes put unborn babies at risk of a number of complications, including premature birth, obesity and even stillbirth.
Half of all babies born to mothers with Type 1 diabetes have some form of complication, research suggests.
Stillbirths affect very few of these – less than 2 per cent – but that rate is about five times higher than among healthy mothers.
Some 400,000 people in the UK have Type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease which means the pancreas cannot produce enough insulin, stopping proper regulation of blood sugar.
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It usually first strikes in childhood or adolescence, and unlike Type 2 diabetes, is not caused by lifestyle or diet. One woman involved in the trial, Laura Carver, had suffered a miscarriage two years ago.
The 28-year-old said: ‘I had been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when I was 18-months-old and thought I was more than capable of managing it by myself. But after the miscarriage, I realised this was a great opportunity. The artificial pancreas could manage it for me.’
Mrs Carver, a hospice fundraiser from Norfolk, saw her blood glucose control improve dramatically during her pregnancy – it had previously been within a healthy range about 50 per cent of the time, but while using the device that went up to 80 per cent.
Mrs Carver and her husband Gordon, 39, are now parents to an 11-month-old healthy baby boy called Sonny. ‘The whole experience has given me hope and confidence if I was to ever have another baby,’ she said.
Dr Zoe Stewart, the lead author on the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, said: ‘Managing Type 1 diabetes in pregnancy can be really difficult. The artificial pancreas automates insulin delivery giving better glucose control than we can achieve with current treatments.
‘We are so pleased that this technology is closer to being a reality for women that want to have a child.’
The devices have previously been trialled on children and adults, but this is the first time pregnant women – considered a much more risky group – have been able to use the gadgets.
Dr Elizabeth Robertson, director of research at Diabetes UK, said: ‘This study represents a real breakthrough in helping women to take control of their condition, and we’re very excited about the direction this research is moving.’
She added: ‘Diabetes UK have been investing in the development of the artificial pancreas since 1977 when we bought the first machine in the UK – which was the size of a filing cabinet.’
Daily Mail