Diabetes is one of the most common serious diseases and afflicts millions of individuals.  The long term complications of diabetes can include nerve damage, blindness, heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, and other potentially fatal complications.  Fortunately for the millions of diabetes sufferers, there are now more diabetes treatment options than ever before.  These options range from diet and exercise for those with mild cases of insulin resistance (type 2 diabetes) to full scale continuous insulin supplementation for those with the inability to produce insulin (type 1 diabetes).  There are new treatment options on the horizon, including the exciting possibilities of stem cell islet replacement to closed loop insulin pumps and pancreatic transplants.  Regardless of the diabetes treatment options used, the one thing that they all share in common is the need to continuously monitor and control blood glucose levels.

Blood glucose monitoring is the key to any diabetes treatment option.  Whether the diabetes is type 1 or type 2, the recurring theme is the inability of the body to properly process blood glucose.  The long term complications of diabetes are all directly related to damage done to tissues and organs by heightened blood glucose levels.  Therefore, testing is something that every diabetic must pay close attention to.   This is becoming simpler than it once was as newer blood glucose monitors can return results more quickly, require less blood volume, and can take blood from other parts of the body that are less sensitive than the fingertips. 

Those with type 2 diabetes can often utilize diabetes treatment options that are as simple as controlling their weight with diet and exercise.  In many moderate cases of the disease, this is the only diabetes treatment required.  For those who find that diet and exercise are not sufficient to keep their blood glucose levels in check, the next step is typically to use diabetes treatment options that involve the use of oral medications.  Some of the more common oral medication based diabetes treatment options either increase the body’s production of insulin or reduce the body’s need for it.

Those with type 1 diabetes can not produce insulin on their own and therefore any diabetes treatment for type 1 diabetics must include taking external insulin.  The most basic way to accomplish this is to take injections of synthetic insulin.  This involves monitoring blood glucose concentrations several times a day and making adjustments to the amount or type of insulin taken accordingly.  Another diabetes treatment option for type 1 diabetics is the insulin pump.  The insulin pump administers small doses of insulin at regular periods (and larger doses after meals and snacks).  The proper use of the insulin pump requires continuous blood glucose testing.  However, there are current research projects investigating the possibility of combining glucose measurements with the functionality of the insulin pump to create the so-called closed loop insulin pump which would function almost as an external artificial pancreas.