Hope Endures
A few people I've met over the years have looked at me in astonishment when I said I wasn't aware of something new on the market. Honestly, I was amazed when I started researching for this article. I was looking to write a nice little article on the changes in care since my diagnosis in 1983. I've filled up five notebook pages of information.
I think some doctor at some point has told a newly diagnosed person that a cure isn't far away. I was told that, but after ten years I gave up looking for the golden egg. I kept up with some of the advances though. I didn't completely shut my eyes. Even though a cure may be days, weeks or years away, I still applaud those in the industry for trying to make life a little easier to manage with new technology.
I limited myself to blood testing kits and finer needles. Those two things were such a big part of the care, that's all I looked at. What a long way science has come since the first writings on the wall were seen in Egypt in 1552 B.C.! The discovery of insulin in 1921 tops my list of favorite inventions, as most would agree. My favorite idea that didn't work was by a French doctor, Proirry, in the 1850's that had his patients with diabetes eat large amounts of sugar as a form of treatment. I really wish that would have worked!
The point being, it took almost seventy years from Poirry to the discovery of insulin, another twenty years until long-term complications were linked to diabetes, still another twenty years to get home urine testing kits out to the public and another two decades before blood glucose testing kits became widely available. Today though, new things emerge every decade or less.
From the research front to new devices such as the GlucoWatch, advances are coming faster. I may not see a cure in my lifetime. I hope I do, but I believe I will see the day that shots are not part of this disease. Whether it's a long-term implantable pump and glucose sensor, or shots delivered through ultrasound waves, the days of needles are numbered.
In another twenty years, I see the face of diabetes care management as being completely different. Gone already are the days of certain death with diagnoses, glass syringes, urine glucose testing and, to
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