Insulin From the Perspective of a Type One Diabetic
Cone snail insulin research at the University of Utah could provide a promising advancement for faster-acting insulin.
I have been dealing with managing Type 1 diabetes and all of its side effects for over 20 years.
In those 20 years, though, I have been able to witness and experience the advancements within technology and medicine that have helped diabetics across the world better manage and control blood sugar levels. The growth and changes that have been made have been nothing short of amazing, and the diabetic research community continues to improve our health and lives each and every day.
In order to better learn and digest all of these advancements, research and information, I went to Twitter to organize a community. I first created a Twitter list of 50 doctors, organizations, research centers and advocates for Type 1 diabetes. From there, I analyzed the topics being discussed and the keywords these accounts were using. Finally, I created a Twitter moment to share what I learned throughout the week, as well as fun little diabetic jokes to lighten the mood.
One of the main things I learned and found most interesting is the research going into man made insulin and how we can better improve it so that it acts more like natural insulin that non-diabetic humans are able to produce.
The University of Utah has been conducting studies with predatory cone snails and their insulin. These sea creatures release toxic venom into the waters that surround them in order to catch their prey. This toxic venom contains a unique, powerful form of insulin that paralyzes the fish that come into contact with it by plummeting their blood glucose levels. Once paralyzed, the snails come out and consume them.
The snail’s ability to produce such fast-acting insulin has astonished scholars and researchers everywhere. The researchers at the University of Utah are currently using this powerful insulin to create a more powerful and fast-acting insulin for Type 1 diabetics to use to reduce high blood sugar levels.
Not only is this discovery astounding, but as a Type 1 diabetic, it means a massive change in my health.
When I experience high glucose levels, I feel like a different person, and not in a good way. I become pale, light headed, dizzy, nauseous, thirsty and frequently need to urinate. I lose all motivation and essentially become unable to leave my bed.
Using the current insulin I am prescribed, it usually takes between 2–3 hours for my blood sugar to return to a normal level for me to feel back to my normal self. It is a horrible feeling and experience that has even put me into the ICU my sophomore year of college.
Unfortunately, feelings and experiences like high blood sugar levels are just something that Type 1 diabetics have to deal with every now and then. But progress and research such as the work being done with cone snails can help decrease this and improve the management of Type 1 diabetes.
