New diabetes developments

There are several developments in the pipeline at the moment for diabetes. 

Some are:

New monitoring devices

Coming soon or already available are 

	contact lenses which are sensitive to current sugar level
	glucose meters that are worn like a wrist watch and constantly give a reading
	tattoos that are sensitive to fluorescent light and display current sugar reading

New drug treatments

1. Changes to or additional older style oral drugs

We have been implementing a change to some of our diabetics taking the drug diamicron. This is now available in a once a day dosage which theoretically gives a smoother control of glucose level 

There have been other new products that are taken only once a day. Some patients have tried these. They are replacements for older style drugs. 

2. New class of oral diabetic drug

A new class of oral drug called glitazones is now available for diabetes. It is better than all older medication and is used as additional therapy where diabetes cant be controlled fully. We have had spectacular success with these treatments

3. New Insulin

A new insulin, Lantus, is now available that lasts smoothly for 24 hours. Our clinic has had early access to this drug since may 2003.

We currently have 12 diabetics using it. The response has been staggering - there is no other adequate description. 

4. Insulin pumps

Expensive but suitable for some