It's "In the News.." the only LIVE diabetes newscast! Top stories this week: lots of interesting news in the latest Tandem Diabetes investor call including timeline and country updates. Researchers see whether a closed loop system can help people with type 2, new recommendations for gestational diabetes screening, camels milk for diabetes?! and the The Association of Diabetes Care & Education Specialists Annual Conference starts this week.
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Episode Transcription below:
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 – and in the show notes at d-c dot com when this airs as a podcast.. so you can read more if you want, whenever you want.
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In the News is brought to you by Real Good Foods! Excited to have them back as a sponsor! Real Food You Feel Good About Eating.
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Our top story this week.. couple of interesting nuggets in Tandem Diabetes’ recent investor call. The company has grown at least 40% in nearly every quarter since late 2017 when the first major update came through on the Tslim X2. They’re getting ready to launch Control IQ in Germany and France.. and they’re moving ahead with studies of this hybrid closed loop system down to age 2.
Timing of NEW features is still a bit up in the air.. the company says they answered more FDA questions about bolus by phone and feel on track for approval by the end of the year - iOS and Android. T-sport submission will now likely happen in 2022. Like a lot of diabetes tech, COVID pushed these timelines out. One other little tidbit.. looks like there won’t be a big user manual with the mobile improvements - the training will be part of the app itself. Seems like common sense, but that’s a big change that apparently the FDA asked for.
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4445137-tandem-diabetes-cares-tndm-ceo-john-sheridan-on-q2-2021-results-earnings-call-transcript
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How about a closed loop for type 2? New research from the University of Cambridge shows it works just fine. This was interesting because the idea here was to look at people who require dialysis or a kidney transplant. This was a different system, a fully closed loop – no meal announcements needed. People using the artificial pancreas system spent more time in range and less time with hypos. This system has an adaptive algorithm and got better as it went, the average time in range on day one was 36% and by the third week it was 60%.
They didn’t list much about the technology here - but I’m going to follow up. It’s not clear why these researchers aren’t also studying this completely closed loop for people with type 1. They are moving ahead with a new study in people with type 2 who do not need dialysis.
https://www.healtheuropa.eu/artificial-pancreas-trialled-in-type-2-diabetes-patients/110399/
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New recommendations for gestational diabetes - screening should continue into the second trimester says the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. They say screening for gestational diabetes improves both maternal and infant health, and treatment.
Gestational diabetes is estimated to occur in up to 9-percent of all pregnant women but might be up to three times as high depending on the diagnostic criteria used, say these researchers.
The task force recommends clinicians screen for gestational diabetes between 24 and 28 weeks', using a two-step approach of both a screening tool (oral glucose challenge test) and diagnostic (oral glucose tolerance test), just the tolerance test, or fasting plasma glucose tests.
https://www.medpagetoday.com/endocrinology/diabetes/93984
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A new way of looking at glucagon.. these researchers say they want to administer it as a preventive.. writing in the journal of the American Chemical Society these researchers say they have developed hydrogels that remain intact in the presence of glucose but slowly destabilize as levels drop, releasing glucagon into the system, safely raising blood sugar.
This is very early on and hasn’t yet been tested in people.. the early challenges so far have been keeping the hydrogel stable and keeping the glucagon from leaking out of the water like structure. But they say they’ve got it and are moving on to further studies.
https://www.news-medical.net/news/20210720/Novel-method-for-glucagon-delivery-to-help-individuals-living-with-Type-1-diabetes.aspx
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More to come, but first, I want to tell you about one of our great sponsors who helps make Diabetes Connections possible.
Real Good Foods. Where the mission is Be Real Good
They make nutritious foods - grain free, high in protein, never added sugar and from real ingredients - we are big fans of the pizza - Benny puts his in a frying pan, I prefer the air fryer. They keep adding to the menu line with breakfasts like waffles & breakfast sandwiches and great meals made with cauliflower & stuffed chicken. You can buy online or find a store near you with their locator right on the website. I’ll put a link in the FB comments and as always at d-c dot com.
Back to the news..
Is this the new okra or something that might actually work? Looking at camel’s milk to help lower blood glucose.
camel milk has many of the sought-after bioactive properties of so-called "superfoods." And is said to help with insulin resistance and glycemic control. There’s a clinical trial going on right now in Abu Dhabi looking to see if that’s folk lore or the real deal. One study they point to is in a camel breeding community in North India which found that those who regularly consumed camel milk had a 0% rate of diabetes. Quick warning here.. camel milk if you can get it is very expensive and you’re warned to avoid it in raw form..
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/956261
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The Association of Diabetes Care & Education Specialists Annual Conference starts this week. The theme is “Changing Forward,” was designed to highlight patient care that moves away from what organizers call an institutional, task-oriented approach. They want to push for more individualized care that reflects the diversity of people with diabetes. It’s a virtual conference and of course we’ll have an update next week from any sessions or reports that are of interest.
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That’s In the News for this week.. if you like it, please share it! Quick housekeeping note and a thank you.. I have something called the book to clinic program where I’m able to supply pediatric endocrinology offices and clinics with my book - The World’s Worst Diabetes Mom. I’m thrilled and flattered that educators and endos think this is of value to families. Big thanks to our newest book to clinic sponsor, Dia Be Tees - their mission is to raise Diabetes Awareness through modern, cute, humorous and fun tees! 10% of their profits go to JDRF. It’s very reasonable to become a book to clinic sponsor! if you’re interested please let me know. And if you’re a clinic who wants books, reach out and I’ll put you on the list.
Please join me wherever you get podcasts for our next episode -Tuesday - you’ll hear from my son and get his thoughts on what it was like to spend one month overseas with a youth program not focused on type 1. He’s 16 and you bet I’m happy he’s home, but we both learned a lot.
Thanks and I’ll see you soon