Author Interviews, BMJ, Diabetes, Technology / 05.05.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Apostolos Tsapas, MD PhD MSc(Oxon) Associate Professor of Medicine Director of the Second Medical Department | Aristotle University Thessalonik Cruddas Link Fellow Harris Manchester College University of Oxford   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Artificial pancreas treatment, also referred to as closed loop glucose control, is an emerging treatment option combining a pump and continuous glucose monitoring with a control algorithm to deliver insulin (and potentially glucagon) in a glucose responsive manner. Compared with insulin pumps or sensor augmented pumps, artificial pancreas use can reduce the burden for patients by automatically adjusting the amount of insulin entering the body on the basis of sensor glucose levels. The US Food and Drug Administration has recently approved the first artificial pancreas system for use by people with type 1 diabetes over 14 years of age, based on a safety outpatient study. (more…)
Author Interviews, Diabetes, Lancet, McGill / 13.06.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Ahmad Haidar Ph.D. Division of Experimental Medicine Department of Medicine, McGill University Montreal, QC, CanadaDr. Ahmad Haidar Ph.D Division of Experimental Medicine, Department of Medicine McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Haidar: This is the first head-to-head-to-head comparison in outpatient setting of dual-hormone artificial pancreas, single-hormone artificial pancreas, and conventional pump therapy in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes. The main finding is that the dual-hormone artificial pancreas seems to outperform the other two systems in reducing nocturnal hypoglycemia in camp settings when the patients are very physically active during the day. Medical Research: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report? Dr. Haidar: Glucagon has the potential to reduce nocturnal hypoglycemia if added to the artificial pancreas. However, this needs to be confirmed in larger and longer studies as the single-hormone artificial pancreas might be sufficient in home settings (this study was conducted at a camp, which is an environment different that home). (more…)
Author Interviews, Diabetes, Lancet / 07.01.2015

Ahmad Haidar PhD Institut de Recherches Cliniques de Montreal Montreal, QC, CanadaMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ahmad Haidar PhD Institut de Recherches Cliniques de Montreal Montreal, QC, Canada Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: We published a study in 2013 (Canadian Medical Association Journal 185.4 (2013): 297-305) where we did the first randomized trial comparing dual-hormone artificial pancreas against conventional pump therapy. We showed spectacular reduction in hypoglycemia (8-fold) with the artificial pancreas, but the first question people asked: Out of the improvement you showed, how much is due to simply closing the loop between the glucose sensor and the insulin pump, and how much is due to adding glucagon? In other words: if you just close the loop with insulin alone and use an advanced dosing algorithm, you may get a very high reduction of hypoglycemia that glucagon may not be needed (glucagon is associated with increased cost and device complexity). We were not able to answer this question with our study design. Since then, there have been other studies by other groups either comparing single-hormone artificial pancreas vs conventional pump therapy, or comparing dual-hormone artificial pancreas vs conventional pump therapy, and most of these studies showed improvement of both artificial pancreas systems compared to conventional pump therapy. However, there has been no study comparing the three interventions to allow us to quantify the relative benefits of simply closing the loop between glucose sensor and insulin pump versus adding glucagon to the system. Quantifying the relative benefits of glucagon is important given the increased cost and device complexity of the dual-hormone artificial pancreas. So our study compared the three interventions, and is the first study to do so. (more…)