We shall see. I’m often disenfranchised when a treatment is called a cure but I try to stay optimistic.
Hi @Sqduarte I hate overly dramatic headlines as well. This is, IMO, a treatment. I allow myself to have hope it will stink less than the “artificial pancreas”.
Starting testing means years before we hear anything so don’t throw your jabbers away yet!
Bio-barrier is a pretty good idea if it doesn’t cause any complications.
Totally agree. It irritates me to see pumps & CGMs positioned as cures or artificial pancreas’ as if something clogs or fails - how great is that cure or pancreas? Not great! After 47 years of it I guess I’m a tad jaded as far as a cure but it’s certainly come a long way vs what was available when diagnosed!
I agree Susie @Sqduarte, that the article is a lot of hype, and it actually has much falsehood embedded in it. When I saw this a while ago, another member on here was promoting this company some time ago my first thought was that this is not a “first” in any way, This Betalin offering, could not enhance my life any more than the current “almost hands-off” ease i enjoy now with Control IQ.
And certainly NOT an “artificial pancreas”. Beta Bionics’ iLet device, which is now in late FDA testing has much more claim to “First” in the Artificial Pancreas field.
I have a big gripe with the truly false use of the term Artificial Pancreas - “AI” makes the assumption that a pancreas’ only function is to produce insulin, be a viable home for beta-cells. Sure, that is important, but this terminology ignores the very important presence of t-cells and alpha-cells that are also housed in the pancreas.
I recall that when I was young they kept saying a cure in 5-years. To your point, the pancreas and beta cells are much more complex. There’s also hormones and other things disrupted that Simalin tries to mimic. Well…maybe one day!
The first time I saw the phrase “practical cure” used to describe medical devices was one of the most depressing moments of my life. It felt like a huge betrayal. I don’t want a “practical cure.” I want an actual cure. I want to not be diabetic anymore.
I want to know how long exactly this implant is supposed to last. If it’s a one-time thing, great. I’ll call it a cure. If I’m going to have to get some sort of sub-dermal implant every few months… No thanks.
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Agree. I guess technology companies who lack living with it think this is “as good as”. When the pump came out they called it an artificial pancreas - not quite. Oh well. At least Abbott libre will now give dexcom some competition which typically drives price down and quality up. Can only hope!
@bsteingard and @Sqduarte i agree with both of you, So many companies, organizations, and individuals appear to think th a "work around " is a cure. I can’t count the number of times I’ve been told that insulin cured diabetes.
Society, in general, is ignorant. Allowing a PWD to own and use an insulin pump cures diabetes as well as a powered wheelchair “CURES” a double amputee.
Insulin was discover almost 100 years ago, 1921 and is still standard of therapy. There’s 1.4mill T1D and 1.3mill HIV patients. Yet in 30-years HIV has gone from a death sentence to chronic and working towards vacc/cure. Wish T1D had the same Hollywood attention and money as maybe then there would be more to show after 100 years.
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