There are more than 300 million diabetes or pre-diabetes folks worldwide, meaning this disease has already reached epidemic proportions. The bad news does not stop there though, as this particular figure is said to double by the time 2030 rolls around, and diabetics are required to measure their blood glucose levels many times a day with the help of lancets to prick their fingers while drawing blood. The pain resulting from this procedure is due to noncompliance with blood sugar measurement, so it makes perfect sense to figure out new, pain-free techniques in order to measure of blood glucose levels. Scientists over at the Center of Excellence in Electrochemistry (CEE) at University of Tehran, as well as researchers of the Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Institute of Tehran University of Medical Sciences, have worked together on a prototype that is capable of measuring glucose levels in saliva.
You know what that means? Basically, there is no more need for you to prick yourself, resulting in a pain-free testing session. After all, there are studies which show how saliva glucose levels remain proportional to blood glucose, hence one can still obtain an accurate diagnosis at the end of the day. This prototype device is being worked on for an April 2013 commercial release if everything else goes well.
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