Feeding the D-Tech Frenzy

Growing up, many of the appliances in our house had longevity. When an item malfunctioned for the first time, there was a pretty good chance that it could be fixed. When the VCR began spitting tape out of our videos, the handyman came out and put some new parts into it. When our second hand Windows 98 computer got stuck in Safe Mode, my Aunty’s computer guy came over and fixed the belt inside the box.

When a beloved household item came the the end of it’s life, I watched Mum and Dad mourn over how well it had served them and how hard it would be to replace. As those items were eventually replaced, we noticed that they all had one thing in common. They never lasted nearly as long as their predecessors. I can’t begin to count how many kettles, washing machines, printers, televisions and computers we’ve gone through since the originals packed up.

We live in a very consumeristic society. Nothing is designed to last anymore. Today’s innovations will likely become enhanced or obsolete in a few year’s time, and the attitude seems to be to throw it away. Everything has to be brand new. Sure, things are far cheaper than they once were, but we probably spend just as much on replacing defunct items.  It’s hard not to feel that we as consumers, have fed this frenzy to a degree.

It’s hard not to feel that diabetes technology is heading this way, as well.

No sooner than the Dexcom G5 Continuous Glucose Monitor was released, I was already reading about plans for a Dexcom G6. No sooner than the Medtronic MiniMed 640G insulin pump had begun rolling out, I was already hearing about plans for the hybrid closed loop 670G. Tandem recently rolled out an upgrade of their t-slim insulin pump. Bigfoot Biomedical, which have a closed loop system in development, recently announced a partnership with Abbott that will utilise data from a “next gen” FreeStyle Libre system. We even have confirmation of Apple entering the market. 

Technology is the hot topic of the town in the diabetes community – and rightfully so. Who doesn’t get excited about all of the advancements in the pipeline that will improve the treatment of diabetes and the quality of our lives? Who wouldn’t get excited about a shiny new device, just like we do with our smartphones and tablets and cars? Diabetes is monotonous, so I’ll certainly appreciate anything that makes it a little more exciting.

Call me a hypocrite writing this, because I am an enthused user of diabetes technology. I am a privileged person. I get excited over a shiny new gadget, and I am grateful that the tech is an option for me.

But I kind of feel that we, as consumers, have fed this technology-focussed frenzy to a degree.

When looking at the bigger picture, it doesn’t feel like an actual cure for type 1 diabetes is even on the horizon. It’s beginning to feel like these advancements are no longer a solution, but rather a pathway to the next enhancement or product.

If my social media feeds are anything to go by, people are crying out over the skyrocketing prices of insulin, and access to basic healthcare. Then I look at all of these advancements, and I wonder just how many people the end product will actually reach.

Dad showed me an article in the paper yesterday, of promising research on insulin producing cells, or something like it. I dismissed it instantly, citing that I’d likely never hear of it again as I have with many other developments that qualify closer to a “cure” status.

I wonder why we aren’t questioning companies on the feasibility of these advancements. I wonder why we aren’t holding companies to greater accountability for their actions. I wonder if we are throwing enough support behind research into potential diabetes cures. I wonder if we, as the consumers, are taking full advantage of our ability to drive the agenda.

I wonder if we have lost sight of curing diabetes.

4 Comments

  1. Ivan

    It is sad that so many companies and individuals profit from type1 diabetes. No type1 cure will ever come as long as big money and profits flows from the disease.

  2. Rick Phillips

    I rather think that we in the online community need to beat the drum about insulin prices as much as we beat it about technology.

  3. Eva

    Start by asking questions to your doctor about potential diabetes cures and request that your doctor put you contact with someone or some company that is leading the charge. I’d like to request that the protocol for treating type 1 diabetes is changed to something similar that of HIV. The medical community has completely ignored decades of research indicating a virus as a trigger. Yet, I never received an antiviral drug as part of my treatment. Did you? As a community, we need to demand more and better because the MD’s are doing grave harm.

  4. Andrew Purcell

    There is no money in cures. Maintenance is big business. There have been lots of little promising research efforts going on around the world but they never seem to make it out of trial or they get killed off. IDK. We need a big hack on big pharma to really know what has been going on. Come on Anonymous. Come on Wikileaks help us.

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