Type 1 diabetes is a serious, chronic autoimmune disease that, while not uncommon, remains largely unknown to the public. More than 166,000 people in Spain suffer from it, 26,000 of them in Catalonia. This disease not only affects patients, who must monitor their glucose levels daily, even while sleeping, and inject insulin every day, but also their families. Type 1 diabetes requires constant, 24-hour monitoring, continuous insulin use, and rigorous glucose control between 4 and 10 times a day. The risks of complications are high: severe hypoglycemia, blindness, amputations, or heart attacks. Furthermore, its diagnosis has a significant emotional, physical, and economic impact on patients and their families. In Catalonia, 1 in 42 families lives with the disease, a figure that will continue to rise in the coming years.

A young person, around 40 years old and seemingly healthy, unexpectedly loses consciousness and collapses. Perhaps they had experienced palpitations, dizziness, or chest pain just before collapsing, but probably didn't have time to report it. They no longer have a pulse and require cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). But within a few minutes, they die. It is concluded that they suffered sudden cardiac death.

Researchers at Imperial College London and Zhejiang University (China) have created a polymer—a large molecule—that allows insulin to be applied to the skin as a cream or patch, penetrate the skin barrier, and reach the bloodstream without a needle. The research, published in the journal NatureIt has been tested in mice and pigs, and its developers propose it as a future alternative to insulin injections for diabetes management.

People with Down syndrome are more likely to consume sugars and fats uncontrollably and suffer from obesity and metabolic diseases such as diabetes due to a genetic alteration. And all of this can harm them cognitively, according to a pioneering European study led by the Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG) and the Hospital del Mar in Barcelona. "It's not just a question of weight or aesthetics; in Down syndrome, obesity is a risk factor for cognitive impairment and certainly for neurodegeneration," said Dr. Mara Dierssen, leader of the cellular and systems neurobiology group of the systems biology program at the CRG and president of the Consell (Spanish Consell).

Measuring blood sugar and injecting insulin. This is the first thing Pau Ribas does every day. He is a 28-year-old engineer and entrepreneur who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 21, a chronic disease characterized by the inability of the pancreas to generate the insulin needed to regulate blood glucose. With these first two morning actions, Pau's daily routine as a diabetic patient has only just begun: throughout the day he will have to inject insulin again (in his case, four to ten times) and he will have to adjust the dose according to what he is about to eat. He will also have to calculate the amount of carbohydrates contained in each food or meal, since the intake of this component increases blood glucose (sugar) levels and diabetes patients must keep it under strict control to avoid damage to the heart, blood vessels, tissues, kidneys, and blood vessels.