Nanomedicine for diabetes treatment

Diabetes (diabetes mellitus) is a metabolic disorder which results in high levels of blood glucose. It can be classified as either Type 1 or Type 2, depending on the reason for the high glucose levels. Type 1 diabetes means that the pancreas cannot produce insulin (a hormone which enables the uptake of glucose by the liver, muscle and fat tissue), whereas Type 2 means that the body's cells do not respond to the presence of insulin.

Whilst Type 1 diabetes can be fatal if untreated, most patients today survive into old age - however, they must inject insulin several times a day to allow their body to use the glucose from their food.

Our understanding and ability to treat insulin has been improving steadily, ever since the first insulin injections were carried out in the early 1920s by Banting and Best. Despite all the advances which have been made, insulin cannot be cured altogether, and a good deal of research effort is aimed at improving quality of life for diabetic patients, making their glucose tests and insulin injections as easy and non-invasive as possible, and potentially devising a permanent cure for diabetes.