Initiatives of Nanotechnology to Combat Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Diabetes is the single most important metabolic disease which can affect approximately every organ system in the body. It has been projected that 300 million individuals would be affected with diabetes by the year 2025. In India, it is estimated that presently 19.4 million individuals are affected by this deadly disease, which is likely to go up to 57.2 million by the year 2025. It is imperative that effective monitoring and treatment options be available to patients. Nanotechnology is an advanced scientific technique which provides accurate information for diagnosing disease. Nanoparticles in peculiar are showing promise in improving the treatment and management of the disease. For the improved oral insulin formulation, nanoparticles are being explored as vehicles due to their ability to potentially enhance drug delivery. Development of glucose sensors is also a prominent focus in non-invasive glucose monitoring systems by the use of nanotechnology. Nanomedicine, the application of nanotechnology to medicine, has already offered some new solutions, and many pharmaceutical companies are trying to develop targeted drug delivery using nanotechnology and already existing drugs. Use of nanotechnology in diabetes is development of oral insulin and microsphere for oral insulin production. New implantable or wearable sensing technologies that provide continuous and extremely accurate medical information could be offered by nanotechnology. The purpose of this paper is to throw more light on the recent advances and impact of nanotechnology on biomedical sciences to cure diabetes. Comprehensively, nanotechnology has the potential to significantly impact several areas of current and future diabetes research.

Keywords: Nanotechnology, diabetes, nanopump, nanomedicine, nanoparticles