"With type 1 diabetes you have to think about every decision you make, right from the moment you wake up," says Grace Bennett, who works for the type 1 diabetes charity Breakthrough T1D. Grace was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was 12. "If I want to eat a snack, I have to ask myself if I want a snack badly enough," she explains. "Is my blood sugar at a point where I really should be having a snack, am I eating it because I am hungry?"
Living with the daily demands of type 1 diabetes includes closely monitoring blood sugar levels and carefully regulating insulin intake. But what if a single dose of insulin just once a week were enough? Or if the insulin itself could 'sense' blood sugar levels, making hourly check-ins a thing of the past?
Six new research projects in universities in the US, China and Australia are trying to achieve just this, as researchers continue exploring newer and "smarter" insulin composites.
The bodies of people with type 1 diabetes (T1D) cannot produce insulin, so they must regularly inject themselves with a synthetic version of the hormone.
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