# A new pancreas madam? Certainly.



## AlisonM (Jan 31, 2011)

I just found this article on *Aunty*, about using an artificial pancreas for women with diabetes. So why can't we all have one?


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## Robster65 (Jan 31, 2011)

I would guess that, in pregnancy, the difficulties are greater and the risks of complications are to both mother and baby, so they have to prioritise due to the old cost chestnut.

I wouldn't begrudge it really. I don't think I'd fancy the challenge of going through pregnancy, even if I had the right bits. 

Rob


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## novorapidboi26 (Jan 31, 2011)

Very interesting, and good for hopeful mothers, only a short term solution I would imagine at this stage..............

I wonder how they measure blood glucose constantly and accurately.......


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## AlisonM (Jan 31, 2011)

novorapidboi26 said:


> Very interesting, and good for hopeful mothers, only a short term solution I would imagine at this stage..............
> 
> I wonder how they measure blood glucose constantly and accurately.......



Isn't there an add-on thingy that goes along with the pump mechanism some folk use that measures BGs constantly? Perhaps that's what they use.


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## novorapidboi26 (Jan 31, 2011)

AlisonM said:


> Isn't there an add-on thingy that goes along with the pump mechanism some folk use that measures BGs constantly? Perhaps that's what they use.



CGM, i think only one pump, the medtronic has that on board but its not an accurate picture of blood sugar realtime, there is a delay I think, but it might be this........just cant see how it would be effective when trying to tighten up control when pregnant.....


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## Chrissie (Jan 31, 2011)

Hi

I was one of the 10 pregnant women to participate in the CLIP study at Addenbrooks. A breif outline of what they did ....... i was admitted to the research ward for 2 24hr periods. They changed me to a animas pump and i wore a navman cgms. The research doctors & nurses then took over my care  as well as wearing a cgms they took bloods every 15mins to check that it was a true reading. I had to participate in controlled exercise & pre-counted carbs were provided & boluses given accordingly. One stay the computer decided what basal rates i should have, the other stay the team controlled my pump as it had been set, without the computer.

The reason that they are looking at the artifical pancreas with pregnant women is due to complex control issues in pregnancy due to hormonal changes, not only are their risks to the mothers health but to the development of the baby. Severe hypos are very common in early pregnancy which have in a few cases have resulted in death of the mother (sorry i don't want to scare anybody, these facts are quoted by the consultant who lead the trial) so by developing a artifical pancreas it reduces the risk of a severe hypo going undetected. Pregnant women need a really tight control during the pregnancy as i'm sure you all know.

From my understanding the next phase of the trial is to bringing the trial out of hospital & into the home. I'm sure once they have figured out how to "close the loop" for pregnant women & children (a hospital study has already happen with children) that it will be rolled out for everybody, of course it will probally be a fight to get it just like pumps are for some people.

I just thought i's share my experience of being involved in the trial, if anybody has any querstions feel free to ask & i'll try and answer them as best as i can


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## AlisonM (Jan 31, 2011)

Thanks Chrissie, that's really useful. How did it work out for you?


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## Chrissie (Jan 31, 2011)

Thats ok i just thought i'd share my experience with you all. I had a beautiful healthy baby daughter nearly 6 months ago she weighed 6lb 9oz so not all diabetic babies are big . I did end up having an emergency section due to pre-eclampsia but hey ho. My diabetes was well controlled during my pregnancy with HbAc1 5.6-6.1. Alice was totally breast fed & didn't need to go to special care so it was all good. 
I'm glad i was involved in the trial it was really interesting & i got to use a cgms for 4 months which was really useful as i was able to set alarms to tell me i was going low or high. Hopefully by the time i have the next baby i might be able to use a artifical pancreas  for the whole pregnancy x


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