Learning English

Inspiring language learning since 1943

The story…

Hope for people with diabetes

Learn language related to…

medical treatment

Need-to-know language…

trial – test done for a period of time to find out if a new treatment is effective

monitors – checks a situation closely and continuously

game changer – something that causes a shift in the way things are done in a particular area

quality of life – level of comfort someone enjoys

stabilised – stopped changing

Answer this…

What painful thing does little Charlotte not need to do any more?

Transcript

Six-year-old Charlotte from Lancashire is one of 400,000 people in the UK with type 1 diabetes.

Her body can't make insulin, the hormone which regulates blood sugar levels.

As part of a trial, she has a sensor on her arm which continuously monitors her blood glucose, and sends readings to this pump, which automatically delivers the insulin she needs.

Ange Abbott, Charlotte's mother
It's had such a massive impact. Prior to having the loop, everything was manual. We had to … We'd be up all night, and some nights, you know, every hour, every two hours to do finger pricks. Whereas now she can be the social child she was before and that’s ... that just makes me so happy.

It's known as a hybrid closed-loop system - a sort of artificial pancreas.

Charlotte, diabetes patient
I don't have to do finger pricks or needles any more.

And it keeps her blood sugar from going too high or too low.

Dr May Ng, Paediatric Endocrinologist
I think it's absolutely fantastic. I’ve been practising for 25 years in children's diabetes, and it's a game changer. To be able to improve the quality of life, to be able to see that most of the blood glucose readings are within the target range - it's very exciting.

Yasmin Hopkins, diabetes patient
The sensors are on my arm, and they loop back through each other.

Yasmin, from South London, is astounded how much her blood sugar levels have stabilised using the new technology.

Fergus Walsh, BBC reporter
So, it's liberating?

Yasmin Hopkins, diabetes patient
Yeah, definitely, there's nothing I can't do. There's no situation now that makes me anxious or scared. I really feel like, before, I really could have been at risk of some of those long-term [issues], especially heart [heart-related] stuff and things like that. Whereas now I don't really see that happening.

If blood sugar levels are not kept under control, diabetes patients risk long-term damage to their heart, kidneys, eyes and nerves.

That's why this trial matters. If successful, it could mean patients like Yasmin have longer and healthier lives.

Did you get it?

What painful thing does little Charlotte not need to do any more?

She doesn’t need to wake up several times a night to have her finger pricked.

Latest Lingohack

Flying car
Episode 220525 / 25 May 2022
Language related to retail: model, processing, licensed, orders, bring (something) to market.
Pigs on patrol
Episode 220511 / 11 May 2022
Learn language related to farming: scarecrow, harvest, crop, soil, fertile
‘Extinct’ fish returns to the wild
Episode 220504 / 04 May 2022
Learn language related to disappearing and reappearing: missing, under the radar, bringing (something) back, recovering, making a comeback
Endurance: Shackleton's lost ship is found in Antarctic
Episode 220427 / 27 Apr 2022
Learn language related to shipwrecks: preserved, construction, pristine, portholes, raised
How to make people like robots
Episode 220420 / 20 Apr 2022
Learn language related to behaviour: playful, curious, sociable, interact, accept
Hope for people with diabetes
Episode 220413 / 13 Apr 2022
Learn vocabulary related to medical treatment: trial, monitors, game changer, quality of life, stabilised.
First woman of colour completes a solo expedition across Antarctica
Episode 220406 / 06 Apr 2022
Learn language related to physical challenges: comfort zone, gruelling, toughest, reservations, hardships
Going for gold in e-waste
Episode 220330 / 30 Mar 2022
Learn language related to chemical process: components, extract, heated, end result, recover
A family’s hope of ending discrimination
Episode 220316 / 09 Mar 2022
Learn language related to discrimination: to face, bullying, uniqueness, educate, stigma.
Recycling food waste
Episode 220309 / 09 Mar 2022
Learn language related to sustainability: deal with, breaks down, organic matter, sustainable, pathogens
Ancient bone found in the Thames
Episode 220302 / 23 Feb 2022
Learn language related to rivers: lurking, shallows, causeway, low tide, mudflats
Britain's lost Lego
Episode 220223 / 23 Feb 2022
Learn language related to the beach and the ocean: wash up, shoreline, off the coast, ocean currents, tide
Boxing to beat Parkinson’s disease
Episode 220216 / 16 Feb 2022
Learn language related to health and lifestyle: quality of life, rock bottom, medical intervention, exercise-orientated therapy, back on its feet
Out-of-hours work ban
Episode 220209 / 09 Feb 2022
Learn language related to work: civil servant, job, boss, normal hours, private sector.
Electric buses: greener public transport
Episode 220202 / 27 Jan 2022
Learn language related to buses: chugging, double-decker, secreted, cabin, range
Reducing construction waste
Episode 220126 / 26 Jan 2022
Learn language related to construction: wooden pallets, skip, manufacturing, supply chain, building site
Following whales round the Southern Ocean
Episode 220119 / 19 Jan 2022
Learn language related to researching animals: conducted, tags, track, migrations, transmitting
Robotic surgery
Episode 220112 / 12 Jan 2022
Learn language related to surgery: operation, medical field, patient, surgeons, keyhole surgery
Protecting seahorses
Episode 220105 / 05 Jan 2022
Learn language related to sea and boats: teeming with (life), mooring chains, seabed, tide, seafarers
How tourism and science work together in Antarctica
Episode 180522 / 18 May 2022
Learn language related to behaviour: alluring, remote, expedition, ambassadors, fragile