Case Studies - Type 1 Diabetes | Helmsley Charitable Trust

Type 1 Diabetes

Case Studies

Early Screening Aims to Understand and Prevent Type 1 Diabetes

Incidence of T1D is increasing in children and adolescents, yet the causes of the autoimmune disease and methods to effectively prevent it are still unknown. In Bavaria, Germany, an innovative study is taking a major first step for type 1 diabetes (T1D) prevention – that is, identifying individuals... Read More

A New Way to Access Complex Diabetes Care

Endo ECHO’s telehealth model has changed one woman’s life. Twenty-year-old Kaycee May of Portales, New Mexico, is still new to type 1 diabetes (T1D). Yet in the three years since her diagnosis, she’s battled depression, graduated high school, married, and had a baby. She currently works at a day... Read More

Expanding Diabetes Care in Underserved Communities

In the U.S., millions of children and adults are living with type 1 diabetes, a complex autoimmune disease that requires careful management and constant monitoring. Unfortunately, a shortage of practicing endocrinologists – especially in rural, sparsely-populated areas of the country – means that... Read More

What Is Type 1 Diabetes?

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a life-altering autoimmune disease that afflicts nearly two million people in the U.S. alone. There currently is no cure and the number of annual diagnoses is on the rise. It is perhaps the only disease in which patients are required to monitor their condition constantly and make their own dosing decisions with a drug that, if improperly administered, can kill them. It is a dangerous and relentless 24/7 grind, and research shows that the vast number of people with T1D are failing to properly and safely manage their disease.

With T1D, the body attacks its own insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Insulin is a hormone that enables the body to metabolize and use glucose. Elevated glucose levels can be immediately life-threatening in severe cases, but more commonly they can result in a range of serious long-term health complications, including blindness, amputations, heart disease and kidney disease. T1D is managed today by a rigorous regimen of monitoring glucose levels – either by pricking one’s skin multiple times per day or wearing a subcutaneous continuous glucose monitor – and then administering insulin via injection or an insulin pump. None of this process is automated currently, which means end users (or their caregivers) must play the role of a pancreas.