Diabetes has been faced from various angles, either through biotechnology, with the development of insulin, or with new drugs and nutrition techniques.However, it is now proposed to study this disease that affects millions of Mexicans with a branch of knowledge little used in medical matters: mathematics.
Dr. Griselda Quiroz Compeán, attached to the Center for Innovation, Research and Development in Engineering and Technology (CIIDIT) of the Faculty of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering of the Autonomous University of Nuevo León (UANL), has been interested in the development of newTechnologies and knowledge around diabetes.Even as part of his postgraduate studies he focused on the creation of an insulin pump based on an hormone supply control algorithm for patients with type 1 diabetes.
Now, the UANL researcher is immersed in a project aimed at patients with type 2 diabetes, which is the variant that most affects at the national level.This is an investigation that, together with the University Hospital of Nuevo León, will conduct mathematical modeling studies on glucose metabolism in diabetic patients according to the types of treatment.
“Diabetes, due to its multifactorial nature, is mathematically complicated to address.However, we believe that a pattern must have that allows the behavior of the disease to predict in patients with similar conditions, ”said the university researcher.
This project is based on the control experience that some patients with type 1 diabetes have, who are controlled with a methodology called continuous therapies from the use of insulin;That is, administer the hormone in small quantities constantly, and with continuous glucose measurement to reduce complications by up to 70 percent.
“With this it is expected to have software that helps us adjust the treatments of patients with this disease.The results of this research will help us to guide the doctor to have continuous information about the behavior of treatment in people with the disease, ”said the UANL researcher.
So part of the research project proposed by Dr. Quiroz Compeán is to analyze the viability of continuous therapy in patients type 2, when it is known that the patient has a treatment based on oral medications and insulin.
For three months, UANL researchers will analyze 35 patients to see their evolution with this treatment;With this they will carry out mathematical studies to see how viable it is to perform a continuous control algorithm to these patients, and what would be the clinical advantages.
This type of research, said Dr. Quiroz Compeán, correspond to the so -called In Silico studies;That is, before medical basic protocols or studies are carried out, studies of simulations are first made that allow predicting the behavior of the patient or subject of study prior to the administration of any substance.
The project is supported by the National Council of Science and Technology and is planned to conclude in three years, a period in which the mathematical models necessary to have the most appropriate therapies to patients with type 2 diabetes will be carried out.
