Dexcom is going big in their new campaign to get us talking more about Time in Range. This week you'll hear from their most famous spokesperson, Nick Jonas.
The singer and actor was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 13, back in 2005. In this recorded webinar, he answers questions about the new campaign and shares some behind the scenes info about his own journey with diabetes.
As Stacey says in the episode, for this event, media was invited to send in questions. The organizers selected the questions and they were asked by Melissa Katz, who is credited as host and representative of The Global Movement for Time in Range.
The Global Movement for Time in Range is a global consortium of diabetes community thought leaders working together to improve the understanding and accelerate the adoption of time in range as the standard of care in diabetes management. With the support of Nick Jonas, Beyond Type 1, Children with Diabetes, College Diabetes Network, Dexcom, JDRF International and Taking Control of Your Diabetes, the group will jointly address issues to improve the lives of people with diabetes. To learn more about the movement and how to get involved, visit WhenInRange.com.
This podcast is not intended as medical advice. If you have those kinds of questions, please contact your health care provider.
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Episode transcription below:
Stacey Simms 0:00
Diabetes Connections is brought to you by Dario health. Manage your blood glucose levels increase your possibilities by Gvoke Hypopen, the first premixed auto injector for very low blood sugar, and by Dexcom take control of your diabetes and live life to the fullest with Dexcom. This is Diabetes Connections with Stacey Simms. This week, a new effort to get us talking more about time in range. Dexcom is launching this campaign with their most famous spokesperson, Nick Jonas,
Nick Jonas 0:35
I would say A1C is a useful piece of data. But as I mentioned before, we're talking about a collection of numbers and you receive that data after a certain period of time, our world and specifically my world on so many people out there moves at such a rapid pace that the more information we can have at the fingertips, no pun intended is really incredible thing.
Stacey Simms 0:56
Jonas answers questions about the time in range campaign and shared some behind the scenes info about his own journey with diabetes. This podcast is not intended as medical advice. If you have those kinds of questions, please contact your health care provider.
Welcome to another week of the show and oh so glad to have you here. We aim to educate and inspire about diabetes with a focus on people who use insulin. If you are new, my son was diagnosed way back in 2006. Right before he turned two, he is now 16 and a half. My husband lives with type two diabetes. I don't have diabetes, but I have a background in broadcasting and that is how you get the podcast.
I doubt he needs this introduction. But singer and actor Nick Jonas was diagnosed with type one at age 13 in 2005. He very famously partnered up with Dexcom in their first Superbowl ad earlier this year, and now he's part of that company's effort to educate about time in range from the news release they sent over Dexcom along with beyond type one and organization Nick Jonas co founded children with diabetes, the college diabetes network JDRF International and taking control of your diabetes has announced the global movement for time in range and awareness and education campaign to improve the understanding and accelerate the adoption of time and range as the standard care in diabetes management.
For this event, we were invited to send in questions ahead of time, the organizers selected the questions then they were asked by Melissa Katz, who is credited as host and representative of the global movement for time in range. I sent in three questions. I'll come back after and tell you more about that. And I'll share the one that they didn't use. I will tell you right off the bat. Everybody I know in the diabetes media on that call sent in a question about Nick using his platform to push for insulin affordability and access.
quick housekeeping note. Yes, Dexcom is a sponsor of the show, but they don't tell me what to say. longtime listeners are familiar with this. All my disclosures are on the website, Diabetes connections.com. But it's always worth the reminder. And you should know I edited out the very beginning of the session, they played a video about time and range. I'll link that up in the show notes as well. And I edited out the very end where they talked about details for media about getting the audio and some other notes. Other than that it is the full unedited q&a, and we'll hear it in just a moment.
But first Diabetes Connections is brought to you by Daario. Health. Over the years I find we manage diabetes better when we're thinking less about all the stuff of diabetes tasks. That's why I love partnering with people who take the load off on things like ordering supplies, so I can really focus on my son on Benny, the Daario diabetes success plan is all about you all the strips and lancets you need delivered to your door, one on one coaching so you can meet your milestones, weekly insights into your trends with suggestions for how to succeed, get the diabetes management plan that works with you and for you. Daria is published Studies demonstrate high impact clinical results, find out more go to my daario.com forward slash diabetes dash connections.
Melissa Katz 3:59
So our guest of honor here needs no introduction, especially in his own diabetes community. So please welcome diabetes Rockstar Nick Jonas.
Nick Jonas 4:07
Hello, diabetes Rockstar. That's my official title. Hello, everyone. I'm calling in from Cleveland, Ohio at the moment. So I appreciate your being on excited to talk to you about this global movement for time and range. It's obviously very important to me as a person living with type 1 diabetes since 2005. Now, I guess and I'm excited to be launching this movement for time range alongside Dexcom my partners and leading diabetes nonprofits, including one that I co founded, which was part of that video beyond type one, our goal is to make people aware of time and range and its benefits. And also just you know, I think so many people either live or know someone that lives with diabetes that are just not aware of this and to be able to kind of put this in the forefront and start a conversation around it. And it's an amazing thing for me as a diabetes ambassador and advocate, thrilled to be able to talk to you today and walk you through it all.
Melissa Katz 4:58
Fantastic. So let's get right to it, as you know, the diabetes media submitted questions in advance, so they're on line waiting for those answers. And we're going to start with Matthew Garza from diatomic. He asked, who introduced the concept of timing range to you.
Nick Jonas 5:14
But like all things with my life with diabetes, I rely on my doctor or everything, wonderful doctor, out of UCLA in Los Angeles and endocrinologist there. And we've had a candid conversations. And I think that the thing that really stood out to me was just talking to the benefits. And you know, we talked about in that video, high blood sugars are not ideal and have an effect on day to day life, diabetes, and obviously, lows can be really dangerous, and also have a major effect. The Dexcom clarity app definitely helps me with that, and has allowed me to see in real time throughout the day, my time and range or moments when it's not. And that's the thing to remembers, as a type one diabetic, you know, my main advice to newly diagnosed people is just to take a deep breath, and try to understand that there's going to be days that are unpredictable and harder than the others. And don't get down on yourself for that there are helpful tools and things that make that a little easier. But it is a journey. And once you can keep a positive attitude, it'll be alright.
Melissa Katz 6:11
So that would encourage other people with diabetes to have this conversation?
Nick Jonas 6:15
Well, I think there are a lot of ways, I think we hope to kickstart conversation here, obviously, around the importance, time and range and how it makes people's lives better. And I can speak to that personally, which really has become such an important thing for me to think about that time range and what it really means and not only relying on a one C, which would be your you know, kind of collect reading for two to three months and quarterly reading. This is a really valuable real time tool. And there's there's a lot of assets for people that maybe want more information, want to learn more about this and the impact you can have on their lives with their family and friends lives, when in range calm is a good one, obviously, and other social media tools and links that we'll share with you later. But a lot of good conversation starters out there and thrilled to be able to help in that process.
Melissa Katz 7:06
That's a great way to segue to Jessica apples question. She's from a sweet life. And she's asking, we know CGM is a great way to monitor time and range. But what's the best way to achieve time range in your opinion?
Nick Jonas 7:19
Well, everyone's journey with diabetes is different. And so I can only speak to mine. For me, it's a combination of obviously relying on my doctors kind of input and real time changes that we make to, you know, my life with diabetes as a whole one. And part of that is physical activity. Diet is a big aspect or just meal management and kind of understanding what's serving my body. And a lot of ways because I live such a crazy lifestyle, I think of myself more so as a an athlete in some settings and kind of prioritizing, living a healthy life with my diabetes, but also wanting to perform my best. And so there's, there's a combination of things that come into play there. And one of the other aspects is obviously, knowing where my glucose is a real time. And Dexcom definitely helps with that pretty obvious. And you know, I'm, like everyone else in the world person that looks at my phone way too much. And so having that information, right there is really helpful. Again, that's just my kind of personal, customized journey. And it's, as I said, a combination of all those things, but for everybody out there, it's gonna be different and you got to figure out what works for you. But having a bunch of tools in your toolbox is a helpful thing. And so that's probably a good place to start.
Melissa Katz 8:31
Alright, so speaking of athletes, it was a big moment, during the Superbowl to have you up there doing awareness raising and education about CGM. That was pretty exciting. However, there was also some concern afterwards about access. That was a big conversation that occurred which was I think, was a good thing. And Ross Wallen from diabetes daily is asking, CGM can be expensive both in the US and other countries, especially those without robust healthcare systems. And in some countries, it's not available at all. Is there any worry about emphasizing time and range when some people won't be able to access CGM?
Nick Jonas 9:03
I think that very aware all of us on this call and beyond and all the partners, the need for access and that growing conversation and priority for us all in the US and globally. You know, I think that that the exciting thing for us was starting the conversation about awareness in a big way on something like the Super Bowl was a really big step. And so I was thrilled to be a part of that. And thinking back to a time You know, when I was newly diagnosed, if there was someone that I looked up to or admire, who normalized something like diabetes for me on a stages basis, that would have been really exciting, which I think just again, helps the bigger conversation of this need for access around the world. And we have the onsite one are fully committed. We have a wonderful board there that that have been speaking about this a lot and really building a game plan from the ground up and wanting to see that change really happen and do all we can be part of it as well as the other partners I know that are on this call. So it's priority for us, and definitely something we'll work on is. But as you said, the Superbowl was was such an exciting moment, and something that I hope we can do more of taking diabetes to big stages like that. And just normalizing a bit.
Melissa Katz 10:25
Absolutely. So you mentioned A1C earlier, and my classic is with diabetes, mine is asking a when c remains the gold standard for diabetes care, where does it fit in this admission?
Nick Jonas 10:38
Well, I'm certainly not a doctor. I wouldn't even consider myself a diabetes expert, obviously, even though I've lived with this thing now for quite a while and have my days where I feel like I've really nailed it. But I would say A1C is a useful piece of data. But as I mentioned before, you're talking about a collection of numbers and you receive that data after a certain period of time, our world and specifically my world on so many people out there moves at such a rapid pace that the more information we can have at the fingertips, no pun intended, is really an incredible thing. So I think that that time and range shows the trends in real time provides much more complete picture of glucose control over time, which is really a great thing. It's not to say that it's a, you know, one or the other. You know, there's many ways to manage your life with diabetes and enhance your life diabetes, but I think that the more information you have, the better it's going to be. And the more time and range, it just is obviously going to be
Melissa Katz 11:42
better days. You probably know all of our diabetes media or either have type one or have a family member for the most part. And Stacey Simms is a mom with a son who has type one, and she has a podcast called Diabetes Connections, and shows her a little bit more about your personal journey. So her question is, we'd love to hear about how you prepare for and recover from physical days.
Unknown Speaker 12:05
I know you have a lot of those.
Stacey Simms 12:11
Right back to Nick answering my question. But first, Diabetes Connections is brought to you by Gvoke Hypopen . I mean, you have diabetes and use insulin, low blood sugar can happen when you don't expect it. That's why most of us carry fast acting sugar. And in the case of very low blood sugar, why do we carry emergency glucagon there's a new option called Gvoke Hypopen, the first auto injector to treat very low blood sugar Gvoke Hypopen is pre mixed and ready to go with no visible needle in usability studies. 99% of people were able to give Gvoke correctly find out more go to Diabetes connections.com and click on the gvoke logo gvoke shouldn't be used in patients with pheochromocytoma or insulinoma visit Gvoke Glucagon dot com slash risk.
Now back to Nick Jonas, and he's answering my question, actually a listener question about what he does to plan for and deal with very active days.
Nick Jonas 13:05
Yeah, I mean, I have a physical day coming up today, rehearsals and I'll be moving around singing and dancing around all day and all that and, you know, my PrEP is really to try to get good rest, and then start with a good meal, something that kind of sets me up for success with all the necessary protein and macronutrients and other sort of sustaining carbs. And then from there, just about staying on top of it. I like to just kind of frequently check in and see where I'm at and make real time adjustments. Knowing to that, obviously, the physical activity is going to have an impact. And whether it's this thing I'm doing now, or touring, or even just going out for day golf, you know, I'm always trying to stay on top of it and rely on my friends and family to if there are things that I need or if I need a second to take care of something, whether it be high or low blood sugar, then I take the time to do that.
Melissa Katz 13:55
Yeah. All right, as I said, faces a mom. So she's also concerned about your sleep. And she's asking any insight for your routine and how you prepare for sleep. Well, I
Nick Jonas 14:04
think like most people, my routine is basically to watch Netflix. So I get tired and hope that I can just sleep peacefully through the night. That seems to be the routine these days. But outside of that, it's pretty simple. I just, there's a certain range I like to be in before asleep, so that I don't overcorrect. If I'm higher or low that I'm hanging out there too long. I try to kind of target that range. And then obviously, you know, the alarms within the Dexcom really helps well and when I'm traveling I'm not with my wife, I'll share with her and that kind of gives her peace of mind which is a wonderful thing and really helpful tool.
Melissa Katz 14:44
Alright, so we're talking about the Super Bowl and we've heard so many sprays of little kids kind of jumping up and down. So excited to see you on TV. And you are diabetes role model for so many people. I'm curious about who were your diabetes role models when you were growing up?
Nick Jonas 14:58
Well when I was newly diagnosed that there really wasn't a person that I knew of that had diabetes or a role model of sorts, you know. So I think it was a real goal for me to be pretty outspoken when I was newly diagnosed and living a pretty public life, hoping that it would bring people some encouragement and that they would have someone to feel like they're on a journey with and what's happened is in being more open and honest and kind of outspoken about living with type one, I feel like my life's been enriched by hearing stories, feeling encouraged, you know, whether it's watching the superbowl commercial with their friends and family and feeling normalized. All of a sudden, or or, you know, whether a song that I've written I've spoken about this journey has encouraged them, those stories that in turn encouraged me and those become my role models and my heroes, my diabetes heroes.
Melissa Katz 15:52
Alright, so what resources should we be finding people to about the movement? Well, one enraged,
Nick Jonas 15:57
calm is a helpful one, lots of educational resources there. And you know, of course, there's this little thing called social media, it can be very helpful. So hashtag one range, and there will be lots of other assets, I'm sure you guys will share with them. But really, again, excited for me to start this conversation. And, you know, to be working alongside some partners who I know are passionate about, not only this initiative and program, but also doing good in the world and the nonprofit aspect of this the thing that that is most inspiring and exciting to me, outside of the obvious, which is enriching and encouraging people to you know, live with time and range, you know, that which is it's been an invaluable tool for me. So, a lot of positives here and thrilled to be a part of the conversation.
Melissa Katz 16:43
Well, thank you so much for the time this morning. We know how busy your schedule is, and how important the diabetes community is to us. So thanks for making it a priority.
Thanks for having me.
Stacey Simms 16:51
You're listening to Diabetes Connections with Stacey Simms.
As always more information at Diabetes connections.com. If you can't find the show notes on whatever podcast app you're listening to, you can find him there. If you're new, and you found us because of Nick Jonas, we are coming up to 400 episodes now. And I have a very robust search on the website. So if you want to hear about athletes, or celebrities, or technology, or just living with type one, or even type two diabetes, you can find out more at the website. And please let me know if there's an episode you would like to hear.
Listen, I'm really glad they asked a couple of my questions. And they were actually your my listeners questions about his active routine and about sleep. And about his diabetes role models. I've sent that one in too. But the questions I wish they had asked was the one I sent in about access and affordability about insulin editorializing here, obviously, but look, a huge impediment to time and range is the cost of insulin and the supply of insulin, especially here in the United States, where we have mentioned this before one in four people are rationing their insulin, I would love to see Nick Jonas, take a stand on that. I know I'm not alone, boy, he could really make a difference just in terms of public education. So you know, we'll look we'll keep pushing, we'll see what we can do there. But I do appreciate you sending me those questions.
Diabetes Connections of the group is where I do most of my communication in terms of you know, getting listener questions, finding out what you want to know more about. So please join Diabetes Connections, the group on Facebook if you haven't already.
Alright, and as I have said, Dexcom is a sponsor of the show, and we have been using the Dexcom system since Benny was nine years old. We started with Dexcom back in December of 2013. And the system just keeps getting better. The Dexcom G6 is FDA permitted for no finger sticks for calibration and diabetes treatment decisions, you can share with up to 10 people from your smart device. The G six has 10 day sensor wear and the applicator is so easy, I haven't done one insertion since we got it Benny does everything himself. Now he's a busy kid, knowing he can just take a quick glance at his blood glucose numbers to make better treatment decisions is reassuring. Of course, we still love the alerts on the alarms, and that we can set them how we want if your glucose alerts and readings from the G six do not match symptoms or expectations. Use a blood glucose meter to make diabetes treatment decisions. To learn more, go to Diabetes connections.com and click on the Dexcom logo.
Before I let you go, just a reminder that every Wednesday live on Facebook, I'm doing in the news. It is a five or six minute roundup of all the headlines and news in the diabetes community of the past seven days that's live on Facebook at Diabetes Connections, the page and that's 430 Eastern on Wednesdays and then we turn that into a podcast episode. You can find it on Instagram and the YouTube channel as well. I'm having a lot of fun with that. And I'm working on my set on my studio. We'll see I have a green screen. You know we're working on some lighting. I don't know. It could look great. It could look very silly. I'm sure you will let me know. thank you as always to my editor John Bukenas from audio editing solutions. Thank you so much for listening. I'm Stacey Simms. I'll see you back here in just a couple of days until then be kind to yourself.
Benny 20:11
Diabetes Connections is a production of Stacey Simms Media. All rights reserved. All wrongs avenged