Having diabetes is no walk in the park, but living with the disorder really does get easier all the time. Just 10 years ago, testing the blood sugar took several long minutes. Insulin pumps were unheard of. And the concept of an artificial pancreas was almost unthinkable.

These days, you can get a blood sugar reading in seconds and wear an insulin pump rather than give yourself injections. And one day, you may even be able to treat your diabetes with an artificial pancreas.

"There is a lot of exciting stuff going on with diabetes treatments," says Spyros Mezitis, MD, of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "But we're not yet to the point where some of these things can be widely used."

An artificial pancreas, for example, is "not ready for prime time in this country," says Tracy L. Breen, MD, Director of Diabetes Care for the North Shore-LIJ Health System. "A lot of these things are still on the horizon."

What do you have to look forward to? Here's a rundown of the latest diabetes breakthroughs.

  • An artificial pancreas consists of a sensor that is placed underneath the skin to measure the blood sugar. The readings from this continuous glucose monitor are sent to a receiver, and insulin is delivered by an insulin pump in just the right amount. The sensor is calibrated by a glucose meter. So far, the device is not in use here. But after starting an Artificial Pancreas Project six years ago, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation now has teams in various countries working to create automatic systems that can replicate what a non-diabetic's pancreas does, according to the JDRF.
  • Pancreas transplants: From the pancreas, beta cells or small clusters of cells known as islets can be transplanted into a diabetic patient. Researchers are still trying to figure out how to implant islet cells from a donor pancreas into a patient's liver, where they could start to produce insulin. But even when a transplant works, it doesn't keep working forever. After an average of 10 years, pancreas transplants fail.
  • Stem cell transplants: "For this, a person's own cells are made to produce insulin," Mezitis explains. "Over time, these cells replace the function of the pancreatic beta cells." However, don't expect these transplants to be available anytime soon. "There is the ethical issue of using stem cells," Mezitis says. "And it is a matter of an awareness and refinement of the technology to make this into something feasible."
  • Insulin-producing cells in the stomach: One day it could even be possible that cells in an individual's stomach could be teased into producing insulin, which would mean a stem cell transplant would not be needed. In a study at Columbia University Medical Center that appeared in the journal "Nature Genetics," researchers learned that in the intestines of the mice, some progenitor cells were able to make insulin-producing cells.

Sources:
"New approach to treating Type 1 diabetes?  Transforming gut cells into insulin factories." 11 March 2012. Science Daily.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120311150719.htm

Young, Saundra. "Artificial pancreas could be 'holy grail' for Type 1 diabetics." 26 November 2011. CNN Health.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/26/health/artificial-pancreas-diabetes-patients/index.html

Gebel, Erika. "Pushing for a diabetes cure." Diabetes Forecast. September 2011.
http://forecast.diabetes.org/magazine/features/pushing-a-diabetes-cure