How I Became A Cyborg

 Hi Charlie ! Elaï writing here :)

I wanted to share about how I got to become a superior being thanks to technology.

WARNING : you CANNOT reproduce this transformation, so you had better stop reading this article if you don't want to get too jealous. 

So the first step to becoming a cyborg is simple : you have to be diabetic. 

I can already see you trying to stuff chocolate into your mouth : but you have to be TYPE 1 diabetic, so unlucky for you, you can't become a cyborg by eating too much sugar. 

So before going into details, I'll explain briefly what you must be burning to ask : what is diabetes, really ?

Well, let's look at how normal bodies function to understand.

In order to function, our cells use glucose. You get it from eating any type of sugar (that is to say fruits, potatoes, startches, drinks and so on) : which your body transforms into glucose during digestion. The glucose is sent in your blood to be brought to all the cells in need. But in order to ENTER the cell, it needs a KEY : that's a hormone called INSULIN

( please take a moment to appreciate the hand-made key )

Well basically a person with diabetes either doesn't produce any insulin at all due to an auto-immune reaction, which means the cells in their pancreas responsible for insulin production are destroyed by their immune system ( type 1 ). Or, people with type 2 diabetes don't produce enough of it because they ate a too unbalanced diet and worn out their pancreas, which is the organ that produces insulin.

As a result, glucose can't enter the cell and stays in your blood : it's called hyperglycemia, the amount of sugar in your blood or blood sugar level, is too high. For information, a child or young adult with this disease is almost ALWAYS a t1 diabetic, as t2 strikes older people for a major part. Thus we're not like this because we like a good chocolate, it's only a matter of chance.

So in my case of T1, there are great SOLUTIONS !! And THAT's where the transformation begins...

1- The insulin pump 

So if your body is incapable of producing insulin, you need to get it some other way : so t1 diabetics must inject it themselves in their arm, leg or belly. It's not that bad at first, but there are a lot of cons : first it's a disaster in terms of ecology, because you can only use a needle once, so that's five plastic needles a day. Secondly it's not exactly convenient when there are a lot of people around because a lot of people fear needles and make comments. On top of this, you need to do maths to know how much insulin you need to take according to what you're eating. Here's what an "insulin pen" looks like : 

So if you catch me with this, it's ONLY INSULIN

But then, some genius thought of a new thing : a device you wear on you that would give you insulin without stinging. How cool, right ? 

So the "insulin pump" calculates on its own the amount of medicine you need according to your blood sugar level and the amount of "sugars" you're about to eat, and administrates it without anyone noticing. But you have to wear it on you ALL THE TIME because you need some insulin even when you're not eating. But it's hidden ( sort of ) under your shirt.

( there are several kinds as the pic shows )

So that's the first device to become a robot.

2- The sensor

When you have diabetes, you need to check several times a day your blood sugar level, in case it's too high or too low, because the only way to correct it is manualy since your body won't do it for you, and it's dangerous to stay too high or low for too long. 

For this, the first method is to check directly with your blood by stinging your finger and using a device but who wants that! 

And then another genius came up with the sensor

Again you have to wear one all the time, but it's extremely convenient! Basically all you have to do is scan your sensor with a device and it gives you your blood sugar-level, but today there are even apps on the phone to do it! (having an iPhone 5 I don't have this privilege)

I find it fascinating how technology can be mixed with medical care and make things so easy!

3- Artificial pancreases

So you may not have been blown away just yet but I hope you stayed until the end of this extremely long article because THIS IS WHAT YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR!

What if I told you that science is even greater than all this ? That technology has provided us with an artificial pancreas ?!

By mixing the two previous devices and linking them with AI, you get a "closed loop". Thus the person wearing them has litteraly NOTHING to do : the sensor communicates with the pump so that when you eat and blood sugar-level rises, it releases just enough insulin without you needing to ask it to or to calculate in your head. To me, this is the final step, the way to becoming a true cyborg. As you can see, technology can be of great help (I do hope some of next year's seconde will read this). It truly changes diabetics' lives and I thought it would be fun to share about it, as I'm sure you've seen people wearing these, perhaps not knowing what they were.

I hope you enjoyed reading :)

hum see you next term