Summary: Show Notes: A bionic pancreas could solve one of the biggest challenges of diabetes | MIT Technology Review (01:02) In a recent trial, a bionic pancreas that automatically delivers insulin proved more effective than pumps or injections at lowering blood glucose levels in people with type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is a serious condition that causes a person’s level of glucose, or sugar, to become too high because the pancreas can’t produce enough insulin Needs to be monitored and requires insulin intake every day. But maybe this bionic pancreas, which is a credit card-sized device called an iLet, could alleviate that constant monitoring It monitors a person’s levels around the clock and automatically delivers insulin when needed through a tiny cannula, a thin tube inserted into the body. Worn constantly, generally on the abdomen. Determines all insulin doses based on the user’s weight, and the user can’t adjust the doses. A Harvard Medical School team has submitted its findings from the study to the FDA in the hopes of eventually bringing the product to market in the US. Provided 219 people with type 1 diabetes who had used insulin for at least a year with a bionic pancreas device for 13 weeks. Compared their blood sugar levels with those of 107 diabetic people who used other insulin delivery methods The blood sugar levels of the bionic pancreas group fell from 7.9% to 7.3%, while the standard care group’s levels remained steady at 7.7%. Goal according to the American Diabetes Association recommends a goal of less than 7.0% Duane Mellor, the lead for nutrition and evidence-based medicine at Aston Medical School, in Birmingham, UK, who was not involved in the study, provided a pro and con for this device: “Being able to take carbohydrate counting out of the equation is a really big advantage, because it’s a burden … On the flip side, they have to relinquish control [of determining the insulin dose], which could be difficult for people who’ve had diabetes for a long time.” The aim of the project is to democratize good glucose control, says Steven Russell, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, who led the study: “There are plenty of people who are struggling right now because they don’t have the right tools, and I think the iLet could help a lot of them have much better glucose control.” Positive Childhood Experiences of Blue Spaces Linked to Better Adult Well-Being | Neuroscience News (09:37) A new study on blue spaces from data pulled from the BlueHealth International Survey (BIS) including 18 countries, showcases the benefits 15,000 people across 14 European Countries and 4 other non-European countries/regions Adults with better mental health are more likely to report having spent time playing in and around coastal and inland waters, such as rivers and lakes. Mounting evidence shows that spending time in and around green spaces such as parks and woodlands in adulthood is associated with stress reduction and better mental health. But not much info about blue spaces Respondents between the ages of 0-16 were asked to recall their blue space experiences how local they were, how often they visited them, how comfortable their parents/guardians were with them playing in these settings, They found that individuals who recalled more childhood blue space experiences tended to place greater intrinsic value on natural settings in general, and to visit them more often as adults. Associated to better mental wellbeing in adulthood Valeria Vitale, Lead author and PhD Candidate at Sapienza University of Rome, talks on the findings: “In the context of an increasingly technological and industrialized world, it’s important to understand how childhood nature experiences relate to wellbeing in later life… Our findings suggest that building familiarity and confidence in and around blue spaces during childhood may stimulate an inherent joy of nature
