I'm a Type 1 Diabetic living in the USA, where our healthcare system is an ongoing embarrassment. Diabetes treatment comes up often as an example. It's incredibly expensive and doctors rarely inform patients of affordable alternatives. Insulin and supplies are exorbitant, while for-profit insurance has always been a cruel and contradictory joke deprived of ethics and efficiency.

I have been keeping myself alive with older generation insulins that are sold at Walmart (Novolin R and Novolin N). No doctor ever informed me that this option exists. I found out about it while researching the dates that Lantus's (a long-acting insulin) patent was set to expire. [Note 1] Unfortunately the generics that came out afterwards were not priced any more reasonably.

Short of a cure for diabetes, the next best treatment is something colloquially referred to as an "artificial pancreas". This is comprised of a series of components: (a) An insulin pump and related accessories, (b) A continuous glucose monitor [CGM], (c) A means of calculating required insulin based on carbs consumed and insulin that's already in effect. At the moment, such a solution does exist - but the pump alone is 7,000 dollars.

However, it turns out that the open source community has created software that can communicate with older pumps, and works with CGMs. It takes the form of an Android or iOS app and both are completely free. The apps coordinate doses, monitor insulin on board, lower the rate at which insulin is delivered if one's blood sugar dips, etc. It's incredible. And it was released before two years before anything from commercial manufacturers was available.

Here are the links for both solutions:

Android - openaps.org/
iOS - loopkit.github.io/loopdocs/

[1] Incidentally, I ran across a forum of Lantus pharmaceutical reps (a) bragging about six-figure incomes, and (b) blaming Type 1 Diabetics for their condition - all while griping about what a loss of patent protection meant for their privileged lifestyles.

#Diabetes,#HealthCare,#Insulin,#InsulinPump,#LoopKit,#OpenAPS,#OpenSource,#T1D,#TypeOneDiabetes