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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.

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