Pregnant women have been given an ‘artificial pancreas’ for the first time, in a breakthrough experts hope will save the lives of thousands of babies.
Sixteen British women with type 1 diabetes gave birth to healthy infants during the Cambridge University-led trial.
They are the first women in the world to go through pregnancy with the devices, which use a tablet computer to automatically regulate their insulin levels.
Laura Carver, from Wymondham, Norfolk, was one of 16 women who were given an artificial pancreas during pregnancy – she said she wouldn’t hesitate to use the technology again
The tiny gadget, which monitors patients’ blood sugar levels and pumps in the correct amount of insulin, will reduce the risk of complications that increase the risk of stillbirths.
Diabetes is particularly risky during pregnancy, because fluctuating hormones mean a woman’s blood sugar levels surge and plummet wildly.
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This puts their unborn babies at risk of a number of complications, including premature birth, obesity and even stillbirth.
Half of all babies born to mothers with type 1 diabetes have some form of complication, research suggests.
Stillbirths affect very few of these – less than two per cent of all births – but that rate is about five times higher than it is among healthy mothers.
Diabetes can be risky during pregnancy, because fluctuating hormones mean a woman’s blood sugar levels take extreme rises and drops
Some 400,000 people in the UK have type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease which means the body cannot produce its own insulin, stopping proper regulation of blood sugar.
It usually first strikes in childhood or adolescence, and unlike type 2 diabetes, is not caused by lifestyle or diet.
People with the condition usually have to inject themselves with insulin several times a day, carefully monitoring their blood sugar levels with finger prick tests.
The artificial pancreas enables this whole process is done automatically.
TYPE 1 DIABETES ‘TAKES 12 YEARS OFF YOUR LIFE’
Type 1 diabetes knocks 12 years off a person’s life, according to a major study.
The shocking toll of the condition, which 78,000 children worldwide are diagnosed with every year, has not improved since the 1990s.
Researchers examined the life expectancy of type one diabetes patients in Australia from 1997 to 2010.
Although life expectancy improved marginally throughout the period, it rose no more than life expectancy for the rest of the population, meaning the gap stayed the same.
The team, from the Diabetes Institute in Melbourne, found that people with type one diabetes had a life expectancy of 68.6 years, which was 12.2 years less than the general population.
Scientists found a way to combine two existing devices – pumps which deliver insulin and glucose monitors – into a simple system controlled by a tablet computer.
Blood sugar is continuously monitored by a small sensor inserted beneath the skin of the tummy, this information is sent to a tablet computer, which calculates the right amount of insulin required, and this is pumped into the blood stream via a small machine worn on the belt.
The Cambridge trial, funded by Diabetes UK and the Government’s National Institute of Health Research, found the devices improved women’s control of their blood sugar by 25 per cent.
The results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, need to be repeated in larger trials, but experts hope the artificial pancreas could be available on the NHS within two years.
Dr Zoe Stewart, the lead author on the study, said: ‘Managing Type 1 diabetes in pregnancy can be really difficult.
‘Hormonal changes that occur in pregnancy make it difficult to predict the best insulin doses for each woman.
‘The artificial pancreas automates the insulin delivery giving better glucose control than we can achieve with current available treatments.
‘We are so pleased this technology is closer to being a reality for women with type 1 diabetes that want to have a child.’
Women were given an artificial pancreas during pregnancy for the first time in what experts believe will save thousands of babies
The devices have previously been trialled on children and adults, but this is the first time that pregnant women – considered a much more risky group – have been able to use the gadgets.
Dr Elizabeth Robertson, director of research at Diabetes UK, said: ‘Artificial pancreas technology has the potential to transform the treatment of Type 1 diabetes, and could be particularly pivotal for women during pregnancy who often struggle with managing their blood glucose levels.
‘This study represents a real breakthrough in helping women to take control of their condition, and we’re very excited about the direction this research is moving.’
She added: ‘Diabetes UK have been investing in the development of the artificial pancreas since 1977 when we bought the first machine in the UK – which was the size of a filing cabinet.
‘Now we’re watching people use tablets or mobile phones, and it’s an incredible achievement.’
ARTIFICIAL PANCREAS CASE STUDY – LAURA CARVER
When Laura Carver suffered a miscarriage two years ago, she blamed the condition she has had since birth.
‘I know you shouldn’t do this, but I just blamed the diabetes,’ the 28-year-old said.
‘It was a really hard time.’
So when Mrs Carver became pregnant again last year, she leapt at the chance to trial a breakthrough device which could better control her condition.
‘It was the obvious a choice really – usually I test my blood sugar with a finger prick ten times a day, and at some points I have been injecting myself with insulin six times a day,’ the hospice fundraiser from Norfolk said.
‘I had been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when I was 18-months-old and thought I was more than capable of managing it by myself.
Her birth was relatively straight-forward and now Laura and husband Gordon are proud parents of Sonny, an 11-month-old happy and healthy baby boy
‘But after the miscarriage, I realised this was a great opportunity. The artificial pancreas could manage it for me.’
Mrs Carver saw her blood glucose control improve dramatically during her pregnancy – usually it is within a healthy range 50 per cent of the time, but while using the device that went up to 80 per cent.
‘It takes all the responsibility and the worry away,’ she said.
Mrs Carver and her husband Gordon, 39, are now parents to an 11-month-old healthy baby boy, who they named Sonny.
‘The whole experience has given me hope and confidence if I was to ever have another baby,’ Mrs Carver said.
‘The miscarriage was very, very hard and I blamed myself and worried it would happen again.
‘Being part of this study took a bit of the fear away. Certainly if this technology was available I wouldn’t hesitate in using it again.’