People tend to overlook diabetes as a serious health condition, so I genuinely hope that this tattoo might help us raise awareness and help you fighting with blood sugar spikes and crashes.
Diabetes is not something you get because you're lazy, or you eat too much sugar. Type 1 is also called juvenile diabetes, and it's a condition that hits babies, as well as young adults. You can't accuse a baby of drinking too much or having too much fast food.
Type 2 diabetes is mainly caused by stress, as well as unhealthy living conditions. Most of us are already in a prediabetic state due to a hectic work schedule and not enough time for nature and healthier habits.
While there's no cure for diabetes, it's crucial to recognize the way it works. There are no clear patterns, and you live with it one day at a time. The new tattoo changes color to reflect movements in blood glucose levels. It started as a project by German scientists. It's essential for people with diabetes and everyone around them.
The team used a color-changing dye to pick up changes in blood glucose levels. The colors react to changes in the three biomarkers in the interstitial fluid. This fluid functions as a storage for nutrients, including glucose. The level of glucose in interstitial fluid rises and falls as a response to increases and decreases in blood glucose levels.
The researchers from the Technical University of Munich explained that the glucose sensor picked up on chemical changes in blood glucose levels, heading to the changing in the dye from yellow to dark green.
Basically, the scientists replaced tattoo ink with biosensors. And since this was a success, the team got support from MIT and Harvard Medical School. Though it sounds great, it's not going to be available just yet.
There are no plans to develop this project, at least for now. But, hopefully, one day, it will become available for anyone who's struggling with a silent killer – diabetes.
The disease means that a person has to continually check their glucose levels with a finger prick and inject insulin or, in lighter cases, pills. There are over 26 million Americans with type 2 diabetes, and that number is continuously rising. Similar to other autoimmune conditions, diabetes is not just making people's lives harder. It is also making it shorter.
Millions are waiting for better solutions, and even a tattoo is a step in the right direction. At least when it comes to raising awareness and recognizing how dangerous this illness is.
