This week, the top diabetes stories and headlines in the news include: the popular Sugarmate app loses Dexcom connection, interesting study about internal clocks and type 2 diabetes, the FDA approves new "POGO" BG meter, T2D remission might be more common than thought, Type 1 college scholarships and lots more.
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Hello and welcome to Diabetes Connections In the News! I’m Stacey Simms and these are the top diabetes stories and headlines of the past seven days. As always, I’m going to link up my sources in the Facebook comments – where we are live – we are also Live on YouTube and in the show notes at d-c dot com when this airs as a podcast..
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In the News is brought to you by The World’s Worst Diabetes Mom, Real life stories of raising a child with diabetes. Available in paperback, on Kindle or as an audio book – all at Amazon.com
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Top story this week.. Big issue for a popular app – users of Sugarmate have been told as of this week – November 4th to be precise – customers in the US will lose connection. Those outside the US have seen issues since October. This is because of a change Dexcom made to its servers. Sugarmate says Dexcom is working with them to fix the issue – basically they’re going to join the Dexcom Partner API – we’ve told you about that, it’s how third party apps can talk with Dexcom.. In the meantime, Nightscout is probably the best alternative if you use Sugarmate. Quick note: Tandem acquired Sugarmate last year. And you’ll recall that Dexcom does own a small piece of Tandem. So it looks like this will all probably work out.. but exactly how in the long run will be interesting to watch. --
https://help.sugarmate.io/en/articles/5678010-faqs-sugarmate-and-dexcom-connection?mkt_tok=MzQ4LVJYVi03MDUAAAGAgZ5w-m8YKeY90ybxznIKZ4b4XWStjdvSjf7vH3dNx8PMDzDa9sJP0En6odZtM-Z4UthLL9z7MNV86wnQ4R9o61-islyzvtyvg13By4FB5A&fbclid=IwAR39j2vxjr3JuUbcQdruIAttCSuRl5dD1jVbdNKrm1b5JQpuyYlQiwH1xXs
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A study of “dented” internal clocks seems to build evidence for a theory that people who work late or irregular hours are more at risk for diabetes. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania created a timing mismatch by altering the function of a molecule within the brains of mice.. shortened their circadian rhythms from 24 to 21 hours. These mice gained more weight, had higher blood sugar, and fattier livers. This all corrected when the researchers changed their environment – sleep and meals – to match that shorter, 21 hour day. They say it might be a good idea for shift workers to try to do the same – eating meals and going to bed in a cycle that works better for them.
https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2021/october/a-dented-internal-clock-provides-insight-into-shift-workers-weight-gain-and-diabetes
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New Blood glucose meter gets FDA approval. This is the POGO … with 10-test cartridge technology. The strips and lancers are loaded inside already, so you don’t carry anything separate. You just put your finger down and press the button. They’re calling this automatic blood glucose monitoring or ABGM. On the inside it’s still a basic finger stick and blood collection. But you don’t see any of that on the outside. Of course, there’s a Bluetooth connected app for you and your healthcare team to use. The product is called POGO. the app is Patterns.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/pogo-automatic-one-step-blood-113000135.html
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New numbers out for diabetes around the world and the International Diabetes Federation says it’s a pandemic of unprecedented magnitude. The IDF says more than 10-percent of adults worldwide live with diabetes.. by 2045 that number will be one in eight. The report also says that one in two people with diabetes across the world who need insulin cannot access or afford it. The theme of World Diabetes Day this November 14th is Access to Diabetes Care.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/diabetes-is-a-pandemic-of-unprecedented-magnitude-now-affecting-one-in-10-adults-worldwide-reveals-the-international-diabetes-federation-301413238.html
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Good news for people with type 1.. when more intensive glucose management starts early, it greatly reduces the future risk of heart and kidney issues. This info comes from a look back at the DCCT and EDIC trials – which are 100% worth looking into if you aren’t familiar with them. By the way, in these trials “intensive” glucose control was pegged at an A1C of 7 and the riskier group had an A1C of 9 or above. The earlier the A1C was brought down to 7, the less risk of complications.
https://www.endocrinologyadvisor.com/home/topics/diabetes/type-1-diabetes/earlier-intensive-type-1-diabetes-treatment-reduces-long-term-cardiovascular-and-kidney-complications/
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How common is type 2 remission? It’s hard to say but a new study from Scotland suggests it’s more common than we might think. These University of Edinburgh scientists say in Scotland, it’s one in 20. They looked at everyone in the country over the age of 30 with type 2, based on A1C levels -that’s about 160-thousand people. Then they said during the study year, 77-hundred people went into remission, which means their A1Cs dropped to 6.5 without medication. Those people were older, had lost weight since their diagnosis, had no history of glucose lowering therapy or bariatric surgery, and generally had healthier blood readings at the time of their diagnosis.
https://www.sciencealert.com/reversing-type-2-diabetes-seems-to-be-more-common-than-scientists-realized
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College scholarship contest to tell you about. Senita (sen-EE-tuh) Athletics is partnering with Insulet to award four $5,000 scholarships to people with type 1 diabetes. In honor of National Diabetes Awareness Month, the athletic fashion wear maker is looking for 'Senita Scholars.” The co-founders have a younger brother with type 1 and their fitness gear is known for really good pockets.
To be eligible, students across the U.S. must be either a graduating senior in high school or a current undergraduate and have type 1 diabetes. Applications close on Nov. 30.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/senita-athletics-partners-insulet-corporation-150000801.html
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Lots of events happening around the diabetes community for this awareness month. Friends for Life virtual starts next week as does Together T1D. I mention this because it’s got a powerful lineup, with Olympian Charlotte Drury, Pietro Marsala, the first person with T1D to get a commercial pilot’s license in the US and more…
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And finally, a big happy diaversary to a previous guest of the podcast – Yerachmiel Altman is marking 60 years with type 1 on November 8th. I’ll link up my episode with him.. he worked on early insulin pumps and has worn every bit of tech you can think of.. Wishing you continued good health and thank you for sharing your experience and wisdom with us.
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quick reminder that the podcast this week is with Ken Rodenheiser – a diabetes educator who now works with Dexcom. He explains how he went from angry and lonely as a teen, to helping others start off on the right foot at diagnosis.
It’s a great story you can listen to wherever you get your podcasts or if you’re listening to this as on a podcast app, just go back an episode.
That’s In the News for this week.. if you like it, please share it! Thanks for joining me! See you back here soon.