Introduction
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), diabetes is an epidemic in the United States. It greatly affects the young and aging populations by reducing their longevity, working capabilities, vigor, and functional status. It also increases the risk of contracting other diseases (Poretsky, 2010). Early diagnosis is an important factor in the effective and successful management of diabetes. The disease is easily manageable if detected early enough. For that reason, scientists continue to develop diagnostic tools that help medical practitioners determine whether a patient will develop diabetes or not. The use of magnetic nanoparticles is a new diagnostic tool that has improved the understanding of diabetes and increased knowledge regarding its progression and treatment (Poretsky, 2010). This paper will discuss the use of magnetic nanoparticles in the diagnosis of diabetes, its application in the children population, and its relevance to the nursing profession.
Research findings
The aforementioned diagnostic tool was developed by researchers from Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. The tool is an MRI technique that uses magnetic nanoparticles to determine whether a patient will become diabetic or not based on the presence or absence of inflammations in their pancreas (Miller, 2012). In the study, the researchers injected mice with magnetic nanoparticles. The particles were expected to accumulate in inflamed body tissues that could then be observed by Magnetic Imaging Resonance (MRI). Pancreatic inflammations were the major focus of the researchers. Scans were conducted over a period of 18 weeks. Presence of diabetes symptoms in the mice was determined at 40 weeks of age. The findings of the study revealed that the mice that had developed diabetes had experienced increased inflammations between 6 and 10 weeks of development (Miller, 2012). This was the most critical period in the study because no significant changes were observed before or after that period. The researchers then separated them into two groups: diabetic and non-diabetic. They used the diabetic mice to identify markers that were related to the development of diabetes (Miller, 2012). The researchers used these findings to conduct the study on human subjects. They found out that the tool could also be successfully applied to human beings.
Application of the tool among children
Children are highly susceptible to diabetes. This diagnostic tool can be used successfully in children to determine whether they will develop diabetes or not, stop the progression of the disease, and develop effective therapies to treat it. This could be done by looking for pancreatic inflammations in susceptible children (Martz, 2010). The most common type of diabetes in children is type 1 diabetes. It alters the body’s natural ability to produce insulin. The life of a child with this disease is very difficult because of the need for daily insulin injections. On the other hand, it is tough for a child to cope with the complications associated with the disease. The tool could be useful in avoiding this problem by stopping the development of the disease in children. Using the tool to determine whether a child will develop diabetes or not is necessary in halting the progression of pancreatic inflammations to diabetes (Martz, 2010).
Relevance to the nursing profession
These findings are highly relevant to the nursing practice because they will help to slow or stop the progression of the disease in children. In addition, they will be used to provide more insights into the progression of diabetes. The breakthrough could be used by researchers to develop therapies that stop the progression of pancreatic inflammations into type 1 diabetes (Martz, 2010). Further tests done on human subjects revealed that the diagnostic tool could be used successfully in human beings to indentify inflammations in the pancreas. The realization that the progression of diabetes is critical at an early stage is an important breakthrough in the diagnosis and management of the disease (Martz, 2010). This too could be used in children to prevent the development of diabetes. Comprehending the progression of the illness is important in the provision of effective treatment and management remedies. The use of magnetic nanoparticles could provide more insights into the progression of diabetes and thus improve the process of developing treatment remedies (Martz, 2010). Finally, knowledge acquired from the study can be used to assess the effectiveness of new drugs developed to clear pancreatic inflammations in patients. Currently, the methods available for pancreatic imaging are risky and therefore rarely used.
Conclusion
Diabetes is an epidemic that affects the young and old populations. Researchers have worked hard to develop diagnostic and intervention tools in order to reduce the number of deaths that result from the disease. One such diagnostic tool is MRI that uses magnetic nanoparticles. This tool was discovered by researchers from Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. It involves the use of magnetic nanoparticles to identify pancreatic inflammations that usually lead to type 1 diabetes. This tool can be used in children to determine their susceptibility to diabetes as well as to alter the progression of pancreatic inflammations to diabetes. The tool has great implications to the nursing profession because it will increase knowledge regarding the progression and treatment of diabetes.
References
Martz, L. (2010). MRI of Magnetic Nanoparticles to Detect Islet Inflammation and Monitor Diabetes Progression. Science-Business eXchange 3 (48), 1463.
Miller, J. (2012). Magnetic Nanoparticles Predict Diabetes Onset. Web.
Poretsky, L. (2010). Principles of Diabetes Mellitus. New York, NY: Springer Science & Business Media.