When treating diabetes, today's doctors focus on establishing blood glucose control, but often overlook the need to protect against common diabetic complications such as blindness, kidney damage, and nerve damage. The DCCT, even with a comprehensive treatment program, had a complication rate of approximately 40% of participants.

People who do not have diabetes make insulin with C-peptide. Those of us diabetics who inject synthetic insulin do not get the C-peptide. When scientists began developing insulin - they weeded out the pieces of the amino acid chain they felt were insignificant in lowering blood glucose. Synthetic insulin was designed to reduce the dangerous buildup of excess sugar in the bloodstream. Uh oh - hindsight is surprisingly clear! The long-term complications were initially thought to be caused by lack of insulin - not lack of something that should've been in it. It would make sense if insulin came equipped with this critically important element, wouldn't it?

Tada! C-peptide is the connecting peptide found on the amino acid chain of naturally produced insulin, but left on the cutting room floor in the lab. Studies have shown that C-peptide prevents the development and progression of many diabetic complications and was shown to improve glucose metabolism up to 66%.

Regardless of the potential profit decay C-peptide might cause the production of insulin - the bottom line is the salvation it will provide every man, woman, and child injecting insulin. If you're taking insulin injections, chances are you won't stop taking insulin because you're adding C-peptide to your daily lineup. Chances are - you'll be around a lot longer, and a lot healthier because you do not have the complications most often associated with long-term diabetes.

Wouldn't that be reason enough for you to celebrate the company that brings C-peptide to the drugstore nearest you? Consumer loyalty goes a long way. For those companies who knew a long time ago how beneficial C-peptide would be but didn't do a thing about it - is it really the 33% loss in insulin sales you didn't want to encounter? C'mon. We can handle the truth.

An artificial pancreas is a machine with a real-time glucose sensor and an insulin delivery system. This will enable a diabetic to maintain normal glucose and HbA1c levels by automatically providing the right amount of insulin at the right time, just as the pancreas does in people without the disease.

According to Dr. Aaron Kowalski, Director of Strategic Research Projects for JDRF, "When a person has type 1 diabetes, maintaining an acceptable blood sugar level is a constant struggle. Tight control is very difficult for most, and as a result diabetes patients run the risk of developing severe and even deadly complications. The artificial pancreas will revolutionize diabetes care because it carries the potential of eliminating these complications and easing the tremendous burden of diabetes."

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation launched the JDRF Artificial Pancreas Project in late 2005 to expedite the availability of this rapidly emerging technology for people with type 1 diabetes. Through research and advocacy, the JDRF project aims to speed regulatory approval, health insurance coverage, and clinician adoption of promising new artificial pancreas technologies.

Is anybody else excited about this? It won't be long before I can eighty-six the nuisance of checking my blood sugars and leave it up to the algorithms of a little robot software guy, behind the scenes. Okay, not exactly-but still, it would be awesome!