Daily realities of diabetic patients

It’s stretchable, like a band-aid, waterproof, and long lasting. In today’s Medical Moment, how this small patch may soon take the place of invasive health monitors. For many diabetics, daily monitoring of blood sugar means a finger prick. But what if there was a better way?

The price Americans pay for insulin is more than ten times higher than the average price in 32 other countries combined.

We find that the costs attributed to type 1 diabetes are disproportionately higher than the number of type 1 patients compared with type 2 patients, suggesting that combining the two diseases when estimating costs is not appropriate. This study and another recent contribution provides a necessary first step in estimating the substantial costs of type 1 diabetes on the U.S.

The two will collaborate on a new version of Welldoc’s long-running BlueStar diabetes management app, to include dosing data for several insulins produced by Lilly, ahead of the Big Pharma’s future launch of its connected insulin pen.
The BlueStar app has been cleared by the FDA for adults with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, offering insulin titration support, a bolus calculator and personalized health coaching. It is designed to integrate with a range of blood sugar readers and continuous glucose monitoring systems.

UK-based digital health start-up Quin has just closed its latest fundraising round, placing its total capital raised to date at £3.6 million. The Quin app provides personalised diabetes treatment information for people who take insulin to manage their blood glucose levels.

FreeStyle Libre 3 is the latest advancement from Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre family of products and featuring the smallest, thinnest continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) sensor (~size of two stacked U.S. pennies) and a more environmentally sustainable system design.

Depression is twice as common in people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes as in the general population, and is associated with poor outcomes. Evidence is growing that depression and type 2 diabetes share biological origins, particularly overactivation of innate immunity leading to a cytokine-mediated inflammatory response, and potentially through dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Throughout the life course, these pathways can lead to insulin resistance, cardiovascular disease, depression, increased risk of type 2 diabetes, and increased mortality.

Although diabetes is life-threatening when left unattended, this disease is highly treatable with the right resources and tools. While lifestyle adjustments and constant vigilance are vital to regulation, individuals diagnosed with diabetes also rely on innovative, state-of-the-art medical treatments and devices to achieve a fulfilling life, free of debilitating health complications.

Your child with type 1 diabetes is headed back to school. This may be your first go-round with going back to school and juggling child diabetes. Or maybe you’re a pro and just need a checklist. Either way, preparation, communication, and education are pivotal to making sure your child is safe and successful at school. Here are 6 important things to do to prepare your type 1 diabetic for school.

The researchers developed and validated a deep-learning algorithm using nearly 3 million PPG recordings from 53,870 patients. The algorithm impressively managed to correctly identify the presence of diabetes in 82% of patients with diabetes, as well as the absence of diabetes in 97% of patients without diabetes. The algorithm’s performance improved even further when combined with patient data, such as age, gender, and BMI, as well as other co-occurring comorbidities. An additional analysis even showed a correlation between the algorithm’s score and the subjects’ A1c.

The device is being developed via a collaboration between scientists at UCLA, MIT and the University of North Carolina (UNC). It's intended to be adhered to the skin like a band-aid, with a single patch being good for one day of use.

Based out of Zurich, Oviva is a digital health company that helps people with conditions such as obesity, diabetes, and food allergies improve their health with medical, nutritional therapy from professional dietitians.

As you kick off your 2020 year with energy and enthusiasm for improving your overall health, here are a few suggested Dos and Don’ts when it comes to creating those goals.

Unlike other companies with app-based coaching programs for managing diabetes, such as Livongo and Omada, Virta’s is based on restricting carbohydrates. Users are sent equipment, such as a connected scale, blood glucose and ketone testing strips, and enter their weight and blood sugar data.

EPFL spin-off Readily3D has developed a novel system that can print biological tissue in just 30 seconds. The firm's technology is being used in a large-scale European project to develop a living model of the pancreas for testing new drugs.

Biocorp, société française spécialisée dans le développement et la fabrication de dispositifs médicaux et de solutions connectées dans le domaine de la santé, vient d'annoncer la signature de deux nouveaux accords avec le taiwanais Health2Sync et l’espagnol SocialDiabetes. Ces deux partenariats portent sur l’intégration de Mallya, dispositif connecté dédié aux stylos à insuline, aux applications digitales développées par Health2Sync et SocialDiabetes afin d’améliorer la qualité de soins des patients diabétiques.

Injections are inherently scary looking, and the fact that you’ve got to get approximately 3 of them a day doesn’t help soothe the pain, metaphorically speaking. Youtrust reinvents how they look by overhauling their clinical design for something that’s functional yet also trendy. Its form language is simple and sophisticated, and is upgraded by gradients, vibrant hues, and speckled CMF (although orange speckles on injections may irk some folks).

RADIANT plans to screen about 2,000 people with unknown or atypical forms of diabetes that do not fit the common features of type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Cecelia Health positively transforms the lives of people living with diabetes and other chronic diseases through our technology enabled personalized digital health solution. Our clinical expert team is comprised of nurses, dietitians, exercise physiologists, certified diabetes care and education specialists, and endocrinologists who are passionate about empowering people with chronic conditions to live rich, healthy, and fulfilling lives. They excel at educating program participants about their condition, motivating better lifestyle choices, and providing the essential problem-solving and emotional support required for people living with chronic conditions.

A new method to administer insulin could mean less pain and damage to the skin. Scientists have developed a temporal pressure device that pinches the patient's skin, which has shown more effective results in mice.

Globally, Type 2 diabetes is on the rise. In 2019 approximately 463 million adults were living with diabetes, and that number is expected to soar to 700 million by 2045, according to the International Diabetes Federation. Type 2 accounts for roughly 90% of all diabetes cases. A majority (79%) of individuals with diabetes are living in low- and middle-income countries, according to the Federation. 

La start-up française vient de lever 2,25 millions d’euros auprès du groupe allemand Beurer pour sa technologie de surveillance de la glycémie en continu et sans douleur.