Painless way to monitor glucose For diabetics

Researchers have designed a microneedle patch for people with diabetes to enable them to monitor their glucose levels throughout the day in a "painless" manner. Continuous monitoring is a way to safely and reliably lower blood glucose - giving the user a full picture of their glucose levels throughout the day and helping them avoid severe hypoglycemia. 

But the currently used continuous glucose monitoring systems (known as CGMS) are uncomfortable since they require a minimum 7mm needle inserted into the skin. Owing to their size, they take measurements in the fat tissue - not the most ideal location. However, the new device, developed by researchers is 50 times smaller. 

When applied to a human participant's forearm, the combination of the patch and an extremely miniaturized three-electrode enzymatic sensor was found capable of correctly and dynamically tracking blood glucose levels over time, with a delay of about 10 minutes.

"Our solution is painless to the user. We measure directly in the skin, and there are no nerve receptors that detect pain - just a fine mesh of very tiny blood vessels," said a researcher.

Unlike commercially available CGMS which measure the subcutaneous fat tissue, the new device measures within the skin less than 1mm deep, he said.

This would offer an alternative to pricking one's fingers several times a day to take a blood test and the frequency of finger prick tests could be reduced with a glucose monitoring system, he noted.
The team has successfully tested the prototype of a microneedle patch on a human participant and the completion of a system for clinical tests is now underway.
 
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3D-Printed Glucose Biosensor Developed for Diabetic Patients

Scientists have developed a 3D-printed glucose biosensor for use in wearable monitors. The advance could lead to improved glucose monitors for millions of people who suffer from diabetes, said researchers.

People with diabetes most commonly monitor their disease with glucose meters that require constant finger pricking.

Continuous glucose monitoring systems are an alternative, but they are not cost effective, according to the research.

Researchers have been working to develop wearable, flexible electronics that can conform to patients' skin and monitor the glucose in body fluids, such as in sweat. To build such sensors, manufacturers have used traditional manufacturing strategies, such as photolithography or screen printing.

While these methods work, they have several drawbacks, including requiring the use of harmful chemicals and expensive cleanroom processing. They also create a lot of waste.

Using 3D printing, the team developed a glucose monitor with much better stability and sensitivity than those manufactured through traditional methods. 

The researchers used a method called direct-ink-writing (DIW), that involves printing ‘inks’ out of nozzles to create intricate and precise designs at tiny scales.

They printed out a nanoscale material that is electrically conductive to create flexible electrodes.

The technique allows a precise application of the material, resulting in a uniform surface and fewer defects, which increases the sensor's sensitivity.

The researchers found that their 3D-printed sensors did better at picking up glucose signals than the traditionally produced electrodes. Since it uses 3D printing, the system is also more customisable for the variety of people's biology, researchers said.

"3D printing can enable manufacturing of biosensors tailored specifically to individual patients." -the researchers said.

Since the 3-D printing uses only the amount of material needed, there is also less waste in the process than traditional manufacturing methods.

"This can potentially bring down the cost," said a researcher.

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Crying is a Way to Reduce Stress

If you've ever watched a good tear-jerker and felt strangely happier afterward, you'll know the power of a good cry. But, in our society, crying is often looked down on. However, it seems that Japan is actively encouraging schoolchildren and workforce to reap the mental health benefits of a good cry. In fact, a former high school teacher and self-styled , has been giving lectures about the importance of crying to companies and schools for six years. “The act of crying is more effective than laughing or sleeping in reducing stress. If you cry once a week, you can live a stress-free life,” he said.

 

To raise awareness of how crying can reduce stress, the expert teamed up with a professor. They were inundated with invites to speak with employees about the power of crying in 2015, the year Japan brought in mandatory workplace stress-checks for companies with more than 50 employees. 

Global mental health

Like many other countries, Japan has only recently started to deal openly with mental health issues some individuals experience. Prior to the late 1990s, depression wasn't a term used widely outside the psychiatric profession. Nevertheless, the stigma persists. According to a 2016 study of eight countries, it was found that employees in Japan were the least likely to tell employers about depression, followed by Americans. In Japan, being overworked is a major problem. In fact, the Japanese invented a word for deaths caused by overworking, known as karoshi. 
Yet, while Japan is known to have one of the highest suicide rates in the developed world, numbers have, thankfully, dropped by more than one third, 38%, since its peak in 2003. In 2017, numbers were listed at 21,321 cases. Among the G20 countries, Japan has the third-highest rate of suicide, behind South Korea, and Russia. 

More than 90% of those who attempt suicide suffer from depression. In fact, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) released on World Mental Health Day in October, half of all mental illness begins by age 14. Though most cases remain untreated, despite suicide being the second more common cause of death wrong young people aged 15 to 29. 
The WHo reported that depression is among the largest single cause of disability worldwide and it accounts for 4.3% of the global burden of the disease. The economic impact is therefore huge and the study estimates depression collectively costs Brazil, Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Mexico and South Africa and the USA more than $246 billion a year In Japan alone, this figure totals $14 billion in lost productivity due to employees calling in sick, or being unproductive when they do show up for work.
Globally, the gap between the need for treatment and provision is still wide. Annual spending on mental health is still less than $2 per person and stands at less than $0.25 in low-income countries. Between 35-50% of people who received no treatment for severe mental health disorders in high-income countries, varies to the 76-85% of people in low and middle-income countries. 

But, how does crying help?
In a study of 30 countries, most respondents admitted to feeling better after shedding tears, while more than 70% of clinical practitioners actively encourage clients to cry. Three types of tears are produced by the body: reflex, which clear away irritants; continuous, which keep our eyes moist; and emotional, which studies have found to have certain health benefits. 
In the early 1980s, a Dr. carried out some of the first research into why humans cry. He discovered emotional tears contain stress hormones that are flushed out when we cry. "Crying is an exocrine process... in which a substance comes out of the body. Other exocrine processes, like exhaling, urinating, defecating and sweating, release toxic substances from the body. There's every reason to think crying does the same, releasing chemicals that the body produces in response to stress," he said. 
Evidence also shows that crying slows down your breathing, this helps you to relax and stimulates the production of feel-good endorphins. “Crying is an act of self-defense against accumulating stresses,” a professor said.
  
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