Bernadette Barbara Lenartowicz and Emilian Snarski
Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is a metabolic disease caused by autoimmune destruction of beta cells in the pancreas leading to insufficient production of insulin. The standard treatment of diabetes relies on multiple injections of insulin. One of the main drawbacks of this treatment is the inability to replicate timing and action on endogenous insulin secretion when beta cells are intact. Resulting hyper- and hypoglycemias cause long term and acute side effects of the disease. There are multiple approaches to overcome this problem: insulin pumps, oral insulin preparations, immunomodulatory treatments and transplantation of beta cells. This review summarizes recent advances in the treatment of diabetes.