{"id":11979,"date":"2025-03-09T20:18:54","date_gmt":"2025-03-09T20:18:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/uosm2031-2025\/?p=11979"},"modified":"2025-03-09T20:18:54","modified_gmt":"2025-03-09T20:18:54","slug":"type-1-diabetes-the-fight-for-a-cure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/uosm2031-2025\/2025\/03\/09\/type-1-diabetes-the-fight-for-a-cure\/","title":{"rendered":"Type 1 Diabetes: The fight for a cure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Imagine if your ability to eat relied on whether you could solve a handful of maths questions, lines of algebra blocking you from simply reaching over to the snack drawer and grabbing a bag of your favourite crisps. Sounds like a nightmare, right? But for 464,000 people in the UK alone, this is a version of their reality whilst living with type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease that prevents your body from producing insulin [1].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is insulin?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Insulin, a vital hormone produced by the pancreas after the ingestion of food, enables our body to transfer glucose from our blood into our cells, allowing it to be used as energy [2]. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Image available at: https:\/\/gluroo.com\/blog\/diabetes-101\/insulin-faqs-type-1-diabetes\/<\/a> (accessed: 09\/03\/25)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those with type 1 diabetes have a pancreas that is unable to produce enough insulin to promote this transfer causing their levels of blood glucose to slowly increase with each meal, the sugars predominantly being expelled only as waste via frequent urination. As a result, insulin must be supplemented through injection, quantities being meticulously calculated dependent on what is being eaten and when. Whilst with years of practice calculating the amount of insulin you need can become almost second nature, many with this disease long for a day where they can eat freely, not having to constantly monitor their blood sugar levels and symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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