How nanotechnology is helping to combat diabetes

Diabetes is a lifelong condition which causes a person's blood levels to rise too high. It is estimated that 415 million people around the world suffer from diabetes, one in eleven of the world's adult population. Finding more effective methods to treat diabetes, as well as moving towards finding a cure for the disease, is something where nanotechnology could be revolutionary in the future of disease treatment.

Anti diabetic drugs

Nanotechnology could enable anti diabetic drugs to become cheaper and more accessible, after a breakthrough in 2019 where there was a simpler, cleaner cost effective drug made through advanced biological and chemical engineering.

Once trialled successfully, more efficient anti diabetic drugs could be produced and the cost of production can be reduced, meaning more access to the drugs that can help more people with diabetes manage the disease.

Gene therapy

It is believed gene therapy can be used to cure diabetes in the future, the therapy has already been trialled on mice with success. Gene therapy is a strategy correcting or compensating the symptoms of diseases caused by defective or abnormal genes through introduction of exogenous normal genes. Diseases such as diabetes could be cured by a single treatment, and it is now bringing new treatment options to multiple fields of medicine.

If this method to cure diabetes could be successful on humans in the future with no adverse side effects, this would lead to a major shift in the treatment of diabetes.

Insulin patch

An insulin delivery patch is currently being developed which could one day monitor and manage glucose levels in people with diabetes and deliver the necessary insulin dosage. The patch is easy and cost effective to manufacture and would be intended for once a day use.

If this patch could be developed and brought into use after trails, this would mean people living with diabetes would have more control of their Insulin levels at all times, therefore making life with diabetes much more manageable.

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