Diabetes Connections | Type 1 Diabetes: In the News.. type 2 youth study, mini glucagon made easier, CGM via radio waves and more!

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 on Wednesday August 25^th 2021 – 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.

In the News is brought to you by Real Good Foods! Find them in your local grocery store, Target or Costco. Real Food You Feel Good About Eating.

Top story this week.. the number of young people with type 2 nearly doubled in the United States from 2001 to 2017. These researchers found significant increases in all types of diabetes among both sexes and across racial and ethnic groups.

Type 1 diabetes remains more common among white youth. The highest rates of type 2 diabetes were seen in youth who are Black or Native American.

It's interesting that these CDC and NIH researchers say they don’t know the cause of the huge increase in type 2. They talk about rising obesity, but wonder what’s behind that? They also wonder if it’s because of increased screenings, environment or something else.

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/diabetes-surges-among-american-youth-study-shows-2021-08-24/

Big change recommended in screening for adults with type 2. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force now recommends screening for people who are overweight starting at age 35… five years earlier than recommended right now. That would include 40% of the US adult population. This task force recommends screenings that insurance companies must completely cover, without out of pocket costs to the insured, under the Affordable Care Act.

FDA approval for Gvoke Kit to treat severe hypoglycemia. Xeris pharmaceuticals already provides Gvoke glucagon as an autoinjector and a prefilled syringe.. this Kit is for patients who prefer to draw up their own doses of glucagon using a vial and syringe. You don’t have to mix anything, it’s still a ready-to-use liquid glucagon.

Could be helpful to those who prefer mini-glucagon doses – which are NOT FDA approved – but are sometimes used during illness. Note that’s my comment, Xeris and the FDA is not talking about mini glucagon dosing at all.

https://www.fiercepharma.com/drug-delivery/xeris-a-rival-to-lilly-and-novo-gets-fda-nod-for-glucagon-kit

Growing numbers of pregnant women are developing gestational diabetes. Between 2011 and 2019, rates of gestational diabetes in the United States jumped 30%, according to a large nationwide study of first-time mothers. The cause? Not clear. Every age group saw an increase – from 15 to 44 – so it’s not just moms getting older, which is happening. These researchers want to look at non -traditional risk factors like stress. This was a huge study – 13 million moms in the US.

https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2021/08/18/diabetes-pregnancy/7401629306285/

In the – no thank you – department – researchers say they’ve got an implanted pump you’d refill just by swallowing a capsule. The catch? First, they have to implant the pump – which is described as the size of flip phone - along the abdominal wall, interfaced with the small intestine.

That refill capsule is magnetic, so the implant draws the capsule toward it. It then punches the capsule with a retractable needle and pumps the insulin into its reservoir. The needle must also punch through a thin layer of intestinal tissue to reach the capsule.

These Italian developers testing it all out in pigs – they say it controlled blood glucose successfully… for several hours.

https://spectrum.ieee.org/implantable-medical-devices

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2287225-diabetes-implant-is-restocked-by-swallowing-magnetic-insulin-capsules/

Another maybe it’ll work item… Israeli startup Hagar has something called G-Wave technology that measures blood sugar levels using noninvasive radio waves.

The prototype puts the tech into a ceramic bracelet. Uses Bluetooth to transmit readings to an a mobile app with display and alert functions.

A proof-of-concept study found the company's radio frequency technology was able to continuously measure glucose levels with at least 90% accuracy, compared to the estimated 70% rate for traditional continuous glucose monitors. They claim that’s because it measures glucose in real time. Hagar now plans to launch clinical trials to pursue FDA approval

https://www.fiercebiotech.com/medtech/hagar-brews-up-11m-after-a-serendipitous-spill-led-to-creation-new-cgm-tech

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— I was in Target this week and I saw the new Entrée bowls, I bought the Lemon Chicken and the Lasagna. The Lemon chicken was great! It uses hearts of palm pasta instead of regular noodles which I thought sounded odd but really tasted good. They keep adding to the menu line! 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…

Big grant goes to Scripps Whittier Diabetes Institute to study the use of CGMs in hospitalized patients with type 2. This is a $3.1 million dollar grant from The National Institutes of Health. It’s to build on research going on now – during the COVID-19 pandemic.

CGM devices have been approved for outpatient use since 1999, but their use in the hospital setting remains limited to research efforts and the special conditions allowed during the pandemic.

https://timesofsandiego.com/tech/2021/08/10/scripps-whittier-diabetes-institute-gets-3-1m-for-glucose-device-study/--

Congrats to Diversity in Diabetes for their newly minted 501c3 status.

The group was founded last summer and is dedicated to creating awareness and providing solutions to end health disparities and the lack of representation in the diabetes space. Their big event – People of Color Living with Diabetes Virtual Summit kicks off Sept 16 – more info and how to register in the show notes.

Please join me wherever you get podcasts for our next episode -Tuesday – we’re talking to the folks from MannKind, makers of Afrezza inhalable insulin. You had a lot of questions for them.. looking forward to that episode! The episode out right now is with Kyle Banks – a Broadway performer diagnosed with type 1 while acting in the Lion King.

That’s In the News for this week.. if you like it, please share it! If you’re watching this replay on YouTube please subscribe, if you’re listening via the audio podcast please follow. Whatever it’s called – I appreciate you being here. Thanks for joining me!

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