Every week “In the News…” brings you the top stories and headlines around the diabetes community. This week: Omnipod 5 is approved, T1D families win a NYC field trip lawsuit, the first drug to delay type 1 DX gets a second chance and getting glucagon without a prescription
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Join us LIVE every Wednesday at 4:30pm EST on Facebook and 4:45pm on Instagram
Check out Stacey's book: The World's Worst Diabetes Mom!
Join the Diabetes Connections Facebook Group!
Sign up for our newsletter here
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Use this link to get one free download and one free month of Audible, available to Diabetes Connections listeners!
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Episode Transcription Below (or coming soon!)
Please visit our Sponsors & Partners - they help make the show possible!
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. If you’re new we go live on social media first and then All sources linked up at diabetes dash connections dot com when this airs as a podcast.
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Looking to get organized? Check out my new guide with top tips to clear your diabetes clutter. Everything from how to start to where to donate and how to keep it from taking over your house. Head over to the home page to get organized.
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Our top story.. Omnipod 5 is approved. The US FDA has okayed the system more than a year after it was submitted – held up like a lot of other diabetes tech due to COVID. This is a hybrid closed loop which means you still to give insulin for meals but it will work hard to keep you in range. It’s the first system approved with phone control and with a bit of A-I.. the system uses what it learns about you to improve dosing. I spoke to the company’s medical director for the podcast this week and I recommend you listen to that episode for tons of detail on how the system works, what makes it different from what’s already on the market and details about insurance, Medicare and a lot more.
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Medtronic is sending out a letter this week to everyone who received one of its new or replacement insulin pumps within the last six months to remind them to make sure they have saved their basal insulin rates on their devices. This is considered an “urgent medical device correction” notice and was prompted by a series of injuries recently due to the use of pumps that had not been properly programmed.. they came out of the box with no basal rates which is normal.. and for whatever reason, users didn’t know to enter them. Moving forward, Medtronic will look into making their pump menus more user-friendly and updating the educational materials that come with the box to be more clear. It’s a good reminder that whatever pump you use, keep track of the programming – we take photos of my son’s pump settings with his phone and back the photos up periodically.
https://diatribe.org/medtronic-issues-urgent-basal-insulin-reminder-pump-users?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=organic&fbclid=IwAR0Gsn8KugMTcuzvFKXL7xfZeUgSeHJ9BZzqi7lL38bpuG1qyFrp59i3ooE
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Big ruling in favor of kids with diabetes and other disabilities.. federal court has found that New Yrok City’s Department of Education routinely denies students with diabetes access to field trips and bus transportation. Three sets of parents of T1D kids and the American Diabetes Association sued the district after no care was provided for students on field trips and that the policy of “we’ll call 911” was insufficient for bus riders. The court has ordered the district to train bus drivers and attendants in the use of glucagon and will hire nurses to help on field trips. Many states don’t mandate nurses on fields trips, just trained staff, but NYC does and that made it very difficult for them to follow their own rules. Worth noting, these parents did not seek monetary damages, but filed the suit with the hope of policy change.
https://www.diabetes.org/newsroom/press-releases/2022/federal-court-rules-children-with-diabetes-in-nyc-denied-equal-access-to-field-trips-bus-transportation
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For the second year in a row, in 2021 - more than 100,000 Americans died from diabetes. The story, as reported, is that now Congress should overhaul diabetes care and prevention, promoting consumption of healthier foods, ensuring paid maternity leave, put taxes on sugary drinks and expand access to affordable housing, among other areas. But – and this is just my opinion – they could also tackle the price of insulin and other diabetes medications and supplies. That’s mentioned in this report, but well down the list and isn’t what most of the headlines have picked up on. About 37 million Americans, or 11% of the population, have diabetes, and one in three Americans will develop it in their lifetime if current trends continue, according to the commission.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/exclusive-us-diabetes-deaths-top-100000-second-straight-year-federal-panel-urges-2022-01-31/
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Another chance for teplizumab. The FDA says Provention Bio can resubmit its application for this therapy to delay type 1 diabetes. The drug has been on hold since the agency questioned whether the planned commercial product was comparable to the product used in clinical trials. The resubmission should be ready to go “in the first quarter," the company said. Teplizumab was granted a breakthrough-therapy designation by the FDA but was rejected last year.
https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/provention-s-med-for-delaying-diabetes-granted-go-ahead-for-fda-resubmission
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Michigan’s attorney general is taking a close look at Eli Lilly, accusing the drugmaker of charging excessive prices for insulin. She’s asked a judge to authorize a probe under the state consumer protection law, including the use of subpoenas to get records and to interview company officials. Michigan supreme court rulings have prevented this kind of investigation before.. the attorney general says those decisions were wrongly decided and “have served to end many consumer cases, and have prevented countless others from ever beginning.”
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/michigan/articles/2022-01-26/michigan-ag-seeks-to-probe-eli-lilly-for-high-insulin-prices
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North Carolina law goes into effect this week that allows pharmacists to dispense emergency glucagon without a prescription. There’s not a lot of detail on this – I’ve reached out to local pharmacists and they didn’t know about it. My question is.. which glucagon do they mean? The old red box one or the newer Baqsimi or Gvoke Hypopen? My guess is that whichever, the no prescription may mean paying completely out of pocket.. but I’ll find out. Interestingly this was part of a bill that also makes birth control available in NC without a prescription which I’d think would be bigger news.
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A couple of weeks ago, Dr. Heather Walker was a guest on the podcast.. she is the author of (Un)doing Diabetes: Representation, Disability, Culture… and that book is now available for purchase! As we explained during the episode.. this book explores popular media representations of diabetes.. everything from TV, movies, theater, fiction, fanfiction, fashion and more. It’s meant for academia but you can get it on Amazon.. and I’ll link it up.
https://www.amazon.com/doing-Diabetes-Representation-Disability-Palgrave-ebook/dp/B09QYGLB3S/ref=sr_1_2?crid=Y4JJCSJ18KAQ&keywords=%28un%29doing+diabetes&qid=1643724695&s=digital-text&sprefix=undoing+diabetes%2Cdigital-text%2C72&sr=1-2
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As I mentioned, our long format episode this week is with the folks at Insulet, makers of the omnipod. When that device was approved it bumped out the episode I had scheduled so next week we’re talking about what it’s like when type 1 is just one of the auto immune conditions you live with.. and the other one makes it very difficult to get a COVID vaccine.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts
That’s In the News for this week.. if you like it, please share it! Thanks for joining me! See you back here soon.
Every week “In the News…” brings you the top stories and headlines around the diabetes community. Top stories this week include: how new nanotechnology might help make stem cell transplants a reality (without immuosuppresive drugs), a worldwide A1C survey, the FDA releases more info about issues with Medtronic, lung function and type 2 and some info about diabetes camp.
Join Stacey live on Facebook every Wednesday at 4:30pm EST and in Instagram at 4:45pm EST
Check out Stacey's book: The World's Worst Diabetes Mom!
Join the Diabetes Connections Facebook Group!
Sign up for our newsletter here
-----
Use this link to get one free download and one free month of Audible, available to Diabetes Connections listeners!
-----
Episode Transcription Below (or coming soon!)
Please visit our Sponsors & Partners - they help make the show possible!
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. If you’re new we go live on social media first and then All sources linked up at diabetes dash connections dot com when this airs as a podcast.
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Looking to get organized? Check out my new guide with top tips to clear your diabetes clutter. Everything from how to start to where to donate and how to keep it from taking over your house. Head over to the home page to get organized.
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Lots of news in the last few months about stem cells and type 1.. but transplantation still means rejection without immune-suppressive drugs. Researchers at Northwestern University say they may have a way around those problems. They’re using nano-carriers to generate a new form of immune-suppression that can target specific cells related to the transplant.. without suppressing wider immune responses. This paper was published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. one of the researchers, Jacqueline Burke, was diagnosed with type 1 at age nine. She’s one of the study authors and hopes it has a major impact on the future of diabetes research.
https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2022/01/nanotherapy-type-1-diabetes/
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Possible new link between lung function and the onset of diabetes. This is a big study out of South Korea.. almost 20-thousand healthy adults followed over almost four years. At the beginning of the study none of them had diabetes. After adjusting for other factors, the team found that the group with the best lung function had a lower risk of developing diabetes. More study is needed, but these researchers think that managing lung health – which isn’t really ever looked at as a risk factor - could help prevent diabetes.
http://www.koreabiomed.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=12981
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Big study of people with type 1 from 22 different countries showing that most don’t have an A1C under 7.5%. As you’d imagine, that varies widely by country and by age. This was info from more than 500-thousand people gathered over 4 years. Highest A1Cs were generally in people aged 15-24
There’s a lot of data here and I’ll link it up. But the researchers don’t seem to try to delve into what’s going on or why this is the case.
https://www.healio.com/news/endocrinology/20220119/hba1c-remains-suboptimal-for-most-people-with-type-1-diabetes
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It’s not a surprise that hotter weather could mean more health issues for some.. but a new study from Brazil is closely watching heat and diabetes. Every 5-degree Celsius increase in daily temperature correlated with a 6-percent increase in hospitalizations due to diabetes.. this was between 2000 and 2015. The oldest patients were at an increased risk for diabetes-related hospitalization when exposed to heat. The study authors say it’s the first nationwide study to look at this issue.
https://www.healio.com/news/nephrology/20220118/increase-in-heat-exposure-correlates-with-increase-in-hospitalization-due-to-diabetes
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Medtronic still in a bit of hot water with the US FDA.. Medtronic took more than three years to replace and start recalling insulin pumps with defective retainer rings after first becoming aware of the problem.. this according to an FDA warning letter sent to the company in December and recently made public. The company also failed to investigate more than 800 complaints about defective updated retainer rings and failed to promptly notify the FDA within 30 days after discovering that issues with the device could lead to serious injury or death. Medtronic says, quote “We take these issues very seriously and hold ourselves to the highest standards of quality and patient safety,"
https://www.startribune.com/fda-medtronic-slow-to-update-recall-defective-insulin-pumps-for-diabetes-patients/600136525/
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Medical write up of what might be the oldest person to be newly diagnosed with type 1. This was a 93-year-old woman. Her A1C was 12.9 but I didn’t see in the write up why they had a high clinical suspicion of type 1. They checked her diabetes auto antibodies and confirmed the diagnosis. On recovery, she was discharged home on once daily insulin with aim to self-manage with support. I was only able to find a summary of this.. maybe we’ll learn more soon.. but just another reminder than type 1 can be diagnosed at any age.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35027384/
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It’s that time of year.. diabetes camp registration is opening up! Our local sleepaway camp announced they’ll start signups in February and your camp may have already done so. Please check soon – a lot of these camps have strict limits and are met pretty quickly. I’m a huge fan of diabetes camp – Benny isn’t going this year because he’s been accepted by his regular camp as a CIT and he’ll be gone for … 8 weeks.
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Before I let you go, our long format episode this week is with Joanne Milo.. diagnosed almost 60 years ago, she was told like a lot of people with type 1 that she wouldn’t live to see 40. What happens now that that group is reaching 70, 80 or 90?! Joanne is also a leader in Loop and Learn and we talk about embracing that DIY tech. Next week we’re talking to Tandem about their newly announced 5 year plan leading to a tubeless patch pump.
Listen 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.
Check out Stacey's book: The World's Worst Diabetes Mom!
Join the Diabetes Connections Facebook Group!
Sign up for our newsletter here
-----
Use this link to get one free download and one free month of Audible, available to Diabetes Connections listeners!
-----
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. All sources linked up where you’re watching and at Diabetes-Connections dot com when this airs as a podcast.
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Looking to get organized? Check out my new guide with top tips to clear your diabetes clutter. Everything from how to start to where to donate and how to keep it from taking over your house. Head over to diabetes-connections dot com to organize your diabetes supplies!
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Some new information about Dexcom’s upcoming G7, which has been submitted to the US FDA and in Europe. Latest clinical study show the MARD of the G7 is 8.2 for adults, compared to 9 for the G6. MARD is the Mean absolute relative difference and the lower the better here. G7 was even lower, 8.1 for kids. This is close to the same results they talked about last summer, but the group in the trial was bigger. G7 is expected to get approval in Europe this quarter and likely in the US much later this year. Our last longer format interview episode is with Dexcom’s CEO and we go in depth on this.
https://www.drugdeliverybusiness.com/dexcom-ceo-touts-unprecedented-performance-of-g7-in-clinical-trial-awaits-fda-decision/?fbclid=IwAR3G5_Fu9fhPfR0M3FzgCNCsFYmo4gDRDy5nJySgxt56mMVJgrpUsVQedis
https://investors.dexcom.com/static-files/0c3012e2-40f4-4046-a962-85e6b421d490
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Two COVID and diabetes studies I want to talk about.. the first showing that more children are being diagnosed with type 1 and type 2 diabetes after getting COVID. This study looked at databases of people under 18 starting in March 2020 and going for 18 months. There are a LOT of questions here.. including whether post-COVID type 2 diabetes will actual be a temporary or chronic condition.
Which leads us to the other study.. this one of adults, in almost 4-thousand covid patients, just under half developed high blood sugar levels, including many who were not previously diabetic. These researchers say a lot of the patients here were in their 30s and 40s, no sign of diabetes before COVID.. and the levels of glucose in their blood were incredibly high, sometimes more than twice the level that indicates diabetes.
These patients still had high levels of C-peptide, which shows that they were still producing insulin. The theory here is that something is disrupting the fat cells. But the researchers admit they are just at the beginning of figuring this out.
It’s this latter study and others like it that seem to be showing that there really is something different about COVID and blood glucose. I saw a lot of people dismissing the children’s study with, well, any virus can cause T1D. I’m glad these researchers are digging into what’s going on.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/coronavirus-covid-diabetes-fat-cells-blood-sugar
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/07/health/kids-covid-diabetes-cdc.html
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Abbott unveils plans for a new line of consumer bio-wearable sensors that will collect a broader range of biological readings to help users optimize their exercise and nutrition regimens and overall health. Called “Lingo”- which are still under development and aren’t intended for medical use— they are based on the existing Freestyle Libre diabetes monitoring technology. We’re talking about glucose, ketones, lactate and alcohol. Interesting to me that these were shown at the Consumer Electronics Show and not a medical conference, but Abbott is up front that these are basically for athletes and not for people with diabetes or those who need to make medical decisions based on the sensors. We’ll see which of these makes it off the drawing board.
https://www.fiercebiotech.com/medtech/abbott-ceo-ford-unveils-lingo-line-sports-biosensors-based-diabetes-monitoring-tech
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Another divestment for Lilly Diabetes – last week we told you they were doing away with their Journey Medals for diaversaries.. they have since announced that T1D everyday magic is no more. This was a partnership between Lilly and Disney that was a blog and a place for recipes and the home of those Coco books, the cute monkey with diabetes who hangs out with Mickey & Minnie Mouse. As of today you can still get digital versions of the books via the website but we’ll see how long that lasts. Full disclosure: I wrote for them a couple of times – and was paid by them – glad I saved those columns.
https://www.t1everydaymagic.com/thank-you-for-sharing-the-magic/
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Interesting news from an amazing athlete with type 1. We told you that Sebastien Sasseville biked across Canada this summer. He previously went up Mt Everest and did a brutal race across the Sahara. Now, all the data on his blood sugar during that recent ride has been published. It’s in the Journal of Diabetes, Obesity & Metabolism. Sasseville wore the Tandem and Dexcom Control IQ system during the ride.. the article is about how using that kind of automated insulin delivery system can help ultra athletes with diabetes.
https://dom-pubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/dom.14629?fbclid=IwAR2JLTn9dGJu43have5EMqXkWlENuDgPFDQq6RrsbY7TJyRJV0aERsDxYbo
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This week marks 100 years since the first person received a shot of insulin. Canadian teenager Leonard Thompson got that life saving injection on January 11, 1922. Of course, this was via Dr. Frederick Banting and his team.. Thompson was drifting in and out of a diabetic coma and weighed only 65 pounds. He was 14 years old. The first shot was found to be impure and didn’t work. But they were able to fix the problem and administer a second purer shot. Thompson only lived to age 27 but his actions helped save so many lives.
https://www.healthline.com/diabetesmine/diabetes-care-joslin-100-years-first-human-insulin-shot#A-century-of-Joslin
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Before I let you go, as I mentioned earlier, the podcast this week is an update from Dexcom. CEO Kevin Sayer answers your questions about the G7 and lots more. Listen 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.
In the News... top stories this week: A second glucose-regulating molecule discovered, CGM use closer to diagnosis helps T1D kids, Lilly discontinues "Journey Awards," study on Dexcom use in hospitals, and why does this concept car share a diabetes tech name?
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Join us LIVE every Wednesday at 4:30pm EST
Check out Stacey's book: The World's Worst Diabetes Mom!
Join the Diabetes Connections Facebook Group!
Sign up for our newsletter here
-----
Use this link to get one free download and one free month of Audible, available to Diabetes Connections listeners!
-----
Episode Transcription:
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. All sources linked up on our Facebook Page and at Diabetes-Connections 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. Winner of the American Book Fest Prize for best new non-fiction. Available in paperback, on Kindle or as an audio book – all at Amazon.com.
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Our top story.. You know insulin helps regulate blood glucose. Now scientists have discovered a second molecule in the body that seems to do the same thing. It’s produced by fat tissue but uses a different molecular pathway.. so it’s hopeful this could get around insulin resistance. These scientists say the hormone, called F-G-F-1 suppresses breakdown of fat cells into free fatty acids and regulates the production of glucose in the liver. Because it does this in a different way from insulin, they’re calling it a second loop. Very early here but very intriguing.
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New study out of Stanford says setting children and teens up with a CGM shortly after a T1D diagnosis.. results in a lower A1C a year later. They looked at kids diagnosed in 2018 to 2020… and compared that group to other children diagnosed four years earlier. In that first group, about 90-percent started CGM in the first month.. in second group it was under 2-percent that started that early. At diagnosis, the children in the newer cohort had higher A1c s. At 6 months and 12 months after diagnosis, the patients in the new cohort had significantly lower A1Cs than the other kids. These researchers say the news is more evidence to get insurers to cover the devices.
https://healthier.stanfordchildrens.org/en/kids-early-use-of-diabetes-technology/
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A new risk factor for type 2 mostly affects women, and it’s in about 10-percent of the population. A new study says about one in 10 adults has a lump in their adrenal glands that, though otherwise harmless, increases production of certain hormones that increase the risk for Type 2 and high blood pressure. About 70% of those with them were women, most of whom were 50 years old or older. It’s called mild autonomous cortisol secretion and these researchers say we should start screening for it.
https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2022/01/03/adrenal-tumor-diabetes-blood-pressure-study/2471641237308/XX
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After almost 50 years of honoring people with diabetes with anniversary medals, Lilly Diabetes is phasing out the Journey Awards. Awards were given to patients for 10, 25, 50 and 75 years. A Lilly spokesperson confirmed the news to me today.. saying “We periodically need to re-assess and prioritize programs as the environment and our business shifts. We believe our decision will allow us to focus on programs that we hope bring the most value to people living with diabetes.” They encourage people to check out the Joslin Medalist program and I’ll link that up.
Joslin.org/research/our-research/medalist-program-study
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Movement on a couple of court cases involving insulin makers. Sanofi lost its appeals court bid to revive patents on Lantus. You’ll recall that last year, Viatris got approval for Semglee, it’s long-acting insulin, which is basically the same thing and is approved for the same indications as Lantus. Sanofi is facing an antitrust lawsuit accusing it of obtaining some 20 patents in an effort to delay competition. Viatris has been knocking out the patents in court.
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A federal judge has pared down a class action lawsuit accusing the biggest insulin makers of racketeering. Novo Nordisk, Sanofi and Eli Lilly are accused of scheming together to inflate prices. However, the US District Judge ruled that claims under the racketeering laws of several states (except for Arizona's) must be dismissed… because the laws do not allow claims by plaintiffs who bought the drugs through intermediaries, such as insurance companies, rather than from the drugmakers directly. The same judge did allow these RICO claims to proceed earlier this year in a separate class action against the companies brought by direct purchasers.
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New look at CGM accuracy in hospitals, mostly for people with type 2. This study looked at the Dexcom G6 and didn’t measure how it influenced care, just whether the readings were accurate compared to finger sticks. As you’d imagine, the readings were less accurate at the extreme highs and lows, but the researchers concluded CGM technology is a reliable tool for hospital use. The FDA allowed expanded Dexcom use in hospitals less than two years ago, so this is still very new.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34099515/
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Dexcom partners with another new company.. this one is called SNAQ. Snaq is a diabetes app that is designed to track both your diet and your blood glucose… and can give you nutritional info of your food just by taking a photo with your smart phone. Good write up & review on that from Diabetes Daily which I’ll link up. Apparently, it works pretty well! The partnership means all US based SNAQ users can automatically view Dexcom CGM Data together with their meals inside the Snaq App
https://www.diabetesdaily.com/blog/we-tried-the-snaq-diabetes-app-695058/
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Hat tip to our friend Nerdabetic who spotted this ridiculous story. LG Electronics introduced a new in-vehicle infotainment concept tailored to autonomous vehicles. It’s designed to blur the distinction between home and car .. This is a car cabin that can turn into a space where passengers work, watch TV, exercise or experience camping virtually. The name? LG Omnipod
It was presented at the Consumer Electronics Show this week. No comment yet from Insulet, the makers of the Omnipod with which most of us are already familiar.
http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20220103000636
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Before I let you go, a reminder that the podcast this week is all about diabetes in media, a really deep dive into how representation on screen influences those watching. Listen wherever you get your podcasts or if you’re listening to this as on a podcast app, just go back an episode.
Next week’s episode will be a little bit delayed.. released either very late Tuesday evening or early Wednesday morning. I’m set to talk to the CEO of Dexcom on Tuesday and I want to get that to you as soon as I can.. rather than hold it. So thanks for your patience on that.
That’s In the News for this week.. if you like it, please share it! Thanks for joining me! See you back here soon.
Our top stories this week include Medicare further expanding CGM coverage, Beta Bionics has an iLet update, ADA announces new Standards of Care, a new study looks at using Fitbits to predict the risk of type 2, and more!
Check out Stacey's book: The World's Worst Diabetes Mom!
Join the Diabetes Connections Facebook Group!
Sign up for our newsletter here
-----
Use this link to get one free download and one free month of Audible, available to Diabetes Connections listeners!
-----
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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 – 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. Winner of the American Book Fest Prize for best new non-fiction. Available in paperback, on Kindle or as an audio book – all at Amazon.com.
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Our top story.. another adjustment for CGM coverage under Medicare. All types of continuous glucose monitors will now be included. The difference here is that it includes CGMs that aren’t approved for making decisions about insulin dosing – at this point, that’s really just the Medtronic brand. This follows another decision in July that covered CGM use with any insulin – including inhaled insulin - and got rid of the four times per day fingerstick testing requirements. The new rule goes into effect in two months.
https://www.healio.com/news/endocrinology/20211222/cms-expands-medicare-coverage-for-all-cgms
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The American Diabetes Association is out with its annual Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes. Notable updates include: Screening for prediabetes and diabetes beginning at age 35 for all people;
Changes to gestational diabetes recommendations regarding when to test and who to test. Updated recommendations on technology selection based on individual and caregiver considerations, ongoing education on use of devices, continued access to devices across insurance companies, support of students using devices in school, use of telehealth visits, and early initiation of technology.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/latest-ada-annual-standards-of-care-includes-changes-to-diabetes-screening-first-line-therapy-pregnancy-and-technology-301448533.html
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Little bit of news from Beta Bionics, makers of the iLet Bionic Pancreas System. They’ve completed a randomized controlled trial for their insulin only pump.. this included 440 adults and kids over the age of 6 with type 1. The iLet is different in that you only put your weight in and the system learns you. No carb ratios or basal rates. You do still announce meals, but no carb counting.. just meal size. Public presentation of the clinical data is expected in the first half of 2022. They’re now enrolling into the screening protocol for the next step, the pivotal trial for their Bihormonal pump that would use insulin and glucagon.
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/12/22/2356645/0/en/Beta-Bionics-Announces-Data-Lock-of-the-Insulin-Only-Bionic-Pancreas-Pivotal-Trial-and-Enrollment-into-the-Screening-Protocol-of-the-Bihormonal-Bionic-Pancreas-Pivotal-Trial.html
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You probably know there is a terrible shortage of endocrinologists in this country.. an estimated 80% patients with diabetes use their primary physician’s office for their diabetes care. There’s a new push for more endo fellowships.. These 1-year programs, with funding and accreditation, train interested family and internal medicine clinicians in intensive diabetes management. There are several in existence but there’s a new white paper on this getting a lot of buzz. However, critics say it would be a drop in the bucket and couldn’t graduate enough endos to make a difference. Everyone agrees that the problem needs to be addressed.
https://www.healio.com/news/endocrinology/20211229/endocrinologists-propose-diabetes-fellowship-programs-to-address-growing-gap-in-care
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Interesting study on the use of health wearables and changes in blood sugar. Wearables here refers to Fitbits, so they’re tracking activity not blood glucose. These researchers say their models can accurately identify changes in glycemic control among prediabetic adults, and this could be used to better allocate resources and target interventions to prevent progression to diabetes. Interestingly, the wrist wearable seemed to work better for people than the waist kind. Not a big surprise when you think about which is more popular for use outside of studies. Anybody use a waist wearable anymore? Let me know.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41746-021-00541-1
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And finally.. a Tennessee man who’d never heard of JDRF just won a 2021 Ford Bronco in that organization’s long-running fundraising contest. Every year JDRF and Ford give away the truck – Henry Ford’s great grandson has T1D – and they’ve raised about half a million dollars with the contest. Derek Bonzagni entered the day before it closed this year.. he learned about it through an online forum for people who love Ford Broncos – not the diabetes community.. AND.. he and wife just bought a Bronco for her – before he won. So now they match.
https://www.healthline.com/diabetesmine/jdrf-ford-bronco-diabetes-sweepstakes#6
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Before I let you go, a reminder that the podcast this week is with Peloton star instruction Robin Arzon – she’s got great motivation to get us moving whatever your fitness level. Listen wherever you get your podcasts or if you’re listening to this as on a podcast app, just go back an episode.
Next week we’re talking about diabetes in media with the authors of a new book. Hoo boy..
That’s In the News for this week.. if you like it, please share it! Thanks for joining me! See you back here soon.