Yahoo – AFP,
22 Jan 2015
A four-year-old Australian boy has been fitted with an artificial pancreas in what researchers said was a world first treatment for managing type 1 diabetes.
Four-year-old Xavier Hames (C) with his mother Naomi, father Shaun and clinical nurse consultant Annette Hart at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children in Perth (AFP Photo) |
A four-year-old Australian boy has been fitted with an artificial pancreas in what researchers said was a world first treatment for managing type 1 diabetes.
Xavier
Hames became the first patient following clinical trials to use the new device,
which looks like an mp3 player and is attached to his body using several tubes
inserted under the skin.
The insulin
pump system is meant to replace the need to closely manage the impact of the
disease -- which occurs when people do not produce insulin, a hormone that
regulates blood sugar -- such as through daily injections.
"The
technology mimics the biological function of the pancreas to predict low
glucose levels and stop insulin delivery," Western Australia's health
department said in a statement issued late Wednesday.
"This
in turn avoids the serious consequences of low glucose such as coma, seizure
and potential death."
It was not
clear when the procedure was carried out.
The
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), a non-profit organisation which
funded the research that led to the procedure, said the technology tracks
glucose levels and stops insulin delivery up to 30 minutes before a predicted
hypoglycaemic attack happens.
The attacks
are sparked by low glucose levels and mostly take place at night when patients
may not be able to react or recognise the potentially fatal episode, said
Professor Tim Jones of Perth's Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, where
Hames was fitted with the system.
"This
device can predict hypoglycaemia before it happens and stop insulin delivery
before a predicted event," Jones, one of the lead doctors involved in the
research, said in a statement.
"This
coupled with the fact that the pump automatically resumes insulin (delivery)
when glucose levels recover is a real medical breakthrough."
Hames's
mother Naomi said the device had already improved the life of her son, who has
been suffering from the disease since he was 22 months old.
"Having
the pump gives us the reassurance that Xavier is safe when we are all asleep at
night, and during the day," she said.
"It is
also waterproof meaning that he can enjoy water sports and activities as much
as his friends and family."
The device
was developed after five years of clinical trials at the Princess Margaret
Hospital for Children and at other Australian hospitals. It is reported
to cost about Aus$10,000 (US$8,100).
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