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The U.S. FDA just approved a new device that represents a significant step toward an artificial pancreas. The MiniMed 530G, combines an insulin pump with a sensor that halts insulin delivery for 2 hours if a patient’s blood sugar falls below preset levels. It’s a step toward a fully automatic artificial pancreas that adjusts insulin delivery continuously as glucose levels change. The system's technology trumps existing machines that sound an alarm to wake sleeping patients when their blood sugar gets too low.

Just for parents is an online program designed to help parents better understand, relate to, and support their teenager with type 1 diabetes. The program is designed to help parents evaluate the amount and kind of distress they may be experiencing, understand what might be contributing to it, and provide tips to help deal with it. Parents can take a brief online assessment, and will then receive personalized results, information, and opportunities to participate in informative webinars. Learn more.

Although it has been over 90 years since insulin was discovered, many people around the globe with T1D still lack access. Dr. Mark Atkinson, and his colleagues recently published an article in the journal Diabetes Care, to illustrate the need for global insulin. "We can change the current realities that exist so that all can benefit from advances in diabetes management & care."

Lead investigator Yuri Sautin, PhD, from the University of Florida, has recently shed light on the way fructose is broken down, or metabolized, by the body. By elucidating these pathways he had discovered a way to potentially block its harmful effects. Read more.

Did you know that nearly 26 million Americans have diabetes, and another 79 million have prediabetes? If current trends continue, 1 in 3 Americans will face a life with diabetes by 2050. The Special Diabetes Program (SDP) is making great strides to reverse this epidemic, made possible by sustainable federal investment and advocacy campaigns. Become an advocate today.

Walgreens just made it easier for JDRF supporters to stay happy and healthy this flu season and support type 1 diabetes (T1D) research at the same time. Just stop in your favorite Walgreens or Duane Reade for your flu shot between Sept. 1 and Oct. 31, 2013, and Walgreens will donate $1 to JDRF for every flu shot its supporters get. You’ll be helping to reduce your risks from the flu and potential complications, while at the same time helping to find a cure for T1D. View the flier.

CDC data show that 44% of U.S. school districts had bans on junk foods from vending machines in 2012, an increase from 30% in 2006. Researchers also found that the percentage of districts that allowed soda advertisements in schools decreased from about 47% in 2006 to 33.5% in 2012, while the number of school districts that disclosed nutritional and caloric information of school meals to families grew from about 35% in 2000 to about 53% last year. Read more.

In a new study co-authored by UF Diabetes Faculty, researchers noted markedly different diabetes self-management techniques between children with excellent glycemic control and their poor-glycemic counterparts. This knowledge, made possible by the T1D Exchange Network, may help improve glycemic control among current and future type 1 diabetes patients.

A $600,000 grant will allow the University of Florida to renovate existing lab space into a laboratory dedicated solely to producing more effective treatments to prevent vision loss and blindness. “Having this laboratory space will significantly enhance our ability to conduct essential research into the basic mechanisms of normal vision and disease. It also will offer the resources to develop translational projects that will create new therapies for diabetic retinopathy...and other retinal degenerations.” Read more.

The University of Florida recently celebrated the opening of the Clinical and Translational Research Building, a new home for research that will speed scientific discoveries to patients. The building houses an array of academic departments, clinical research programs, and Institutes including the Clinical and Translational Science Institute and, the UF Institute on Aging which focuses, in part, on the link(s) between diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. Read more.