In the News... Apple drops a BG hint, Dexcom G7 update, Omnipod 5 study and more!

Diabetes Connections | Type 1 Diabetes

It's "In the News..." the only LIVE diabetes newscast!

Top stories this week: -Apple drops a BG hint in the latest watch update -New info about Dexcom's G7 -Omnipod 5 study released -Diabetes drug shows promise for weight loss -Power of peer support Join Stacey live each Wednesday at 4:30pm EDT at https://www.facebook.com/diabetesconnections

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Episode Transcription below:

Hello and welcome to Diabetes Connections In the News! I’m so glad you’re here! I’m Stacey Simms and each week I’ll share the top diabetes stories and headlines of the past seven days. Whether you’re joining me live on Facebook or watching or listening after, I’m here to get you up to speed quickly on what’s happening with diabetes technology, research, and our community. Since these are headlines and summaries, as always, you’ll find all the sources and links in the Facebook comments and in the show notes at d-c dot com.

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In the News is brought to you by Inside the Breakthrough. A new history of science podcast full of “Did You Know Stuff”

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here’s what’s In The News this week…

Couple of buzzy slides from Apple’s World Wide Developer’s Conference. First, this one from their WatchOS 8 update.. they didn’t use the words blood glucose.. but this slide was shown featuring the graphic “blood glucose highlights.” That likely means pulling the data from existing apps like Dexcom or Dario or One Drop, but there are always rumors about Apple releasing a glucose sensor of their own. We shall see – thanks to Nerdabetic for bringing this to our attention.

Another diabetes shout out in this slide - same presentation - about time sensitive notifications. If you look closely you can see the Happy Bob app, which puts funny messages along with glucose notifications.

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Lots of news out of the recent Advanced Technology and Treatments in Diabetes Conference or ATTD.

Dexcom showed this slide about their upcoming G7. We’ve reported on this a lot over the last two years, I’ll link up our previous episodes. but the new info includes: a 30 minute warm up time as opposed to 2 hours right now, and direct to watch capability. Direct to watch from Dexcom – that means you don’t need your phone to see your BG on the watch face anymore - was first announced in June of 2017 with the G5 and that proved more difficult to implement than expected. I’m talking to Dexcom for the podcast later this month so we’ll get a update on what this really means. The G7 is a smaller, all in one with sensor and transmitter applied together. It’s NOT FDA approved yet so there’s no timeline for release.

Also, Dexcom put out a study that says people with type 2 who use basal insulin benefit from the use of CGM. The Mobile study took place over eight months. Those who used the CGM increase time in range and showed a full point drop in A1Cs on average.

https://twitter.com/ATTDconf/status/1401200753717432328

New data presented on Omnipod 5.. this is just an abstract – full study will be released later this month. This is Insulet’s hybrid closed loop system where it works with the Dexcom to keep a user within a targeted blood sugar range. They looked at children and adults ages 6-70 to measure safety of this new system. A1Cs came down, time in range went up, very low occurrence of hypoglycemia and researchers concluded it was safe. The Omnipod 5 operates in two modes, an automated mode and a manual mode. The system provides automatic insulin delivery with customizable glucose targets from 110 to 150, which can be adjusted by time of day. Omnipod 5 with Horizon is in front of the FDA right now so there’s no timeline on release.

https://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/early/2021/05/21/dc21-0172

Also at ATTD - DarioHealth looking at outcomes from their highly personalized apps and system. Dario's study found that personalizing the clinical interventions in response to unique individual actions really helps. That’s opposed to systems with more generalized predictions. This study showed more frequency in blood sugar testing and monitoring in those who received an personalized intervention.

https://www.prnewswire.com/il/news-releases/dariohealth-releases-study-demonstrating-the-impact-of-personalized-digital-interventions-to-improve-self-management-of-diabetes-301305650.html

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Early on here but a new closed loop system that knows when you’re eating is being tested – this was a small trial in adolescents and young adults.

This is out of UVA – the same place that developed what became Tandem’s Control IQ. The researchers say teenagers are particularly prone to skipping meal boluses. This system, known right now as Rocket AP contains an Artificial intelligence bolus priming system that uses CGM to basically decide if you’ve eaten without bolusing. If it thinks you have, it will automatically dose.

The median time in range after a bolused meal was 100% with the Rocket AP system and 93% with the control system, but was a corresponding 83% versus 53% after a meal without a bolus. Again, that’s 83% time in range when you completely forget your meal bolus. Bears watching.

https://www.medwirenews.com/diabetes/ai-fully-closed-loop-insulin-delivery-type-1-diabetes/19231866

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Up next.. a diabetes drug is approved for weight loss but first..

quick break – want to tell you about one of our great sponsors who helps make Diabetes Connections possible.

• Inside the Breakthrough is a podcast that mixes historical wisdom with modern insight – it’s a science show that’s also entertaining. I love it. The latest episode talks about scientists who knew they were onto something but needed to see things with their own eyes. How actually seeing something like a Kraken? Makes a huge difference. It also meant a name change for what some thought had only been a myth. And this actually relates to diabetes! Listen to Inside the Breakthrough wherever you listen to podcasts..

Back to the news…

The FDA has approved the medication Wegovy (wee-GOH-vee), a higher dose of the diabetes drug semaglutide (semuh-GLU-tide), to be used as a weight management drug in patients with obesity. It’s the first drug for chronic weight management that has been approved by the FDA since 2014.

It is injected under the skin once a week. People in the study lost an average of 12 percent of their body weight. People with type 2 diabetes lost 6 percent of their body weight. No reason given for the difference and there are some – intestinal side effects – but Wegovy is said to be safer than older weight loss drugs.

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/fda-approves-popular-diabetes-medication-for-use-as-weight-loss-drug

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The power of peer support was shown at ATTD in a presentation by Kelly Close and Diatribe. Their survey showed engagement in the diabetes online community didn’t just make people feel better emotionally, which is great, but it also predicted better glycemic outcomes.. those most involved in the community increased their chance of having an A1C under 7.

That’s Diabetes Connections – In the News. If you like it, share it. And feel free to send me your news tips. Stacey @ diabetes dash connections dot com.

Please join me wherever you get podcasts for our next episode -Tuesday – we’re talking to the folks from Beta Bionics for the first time in a long time to get an update on the iLet pump. And the episode that’s out right now is all about what college students want you to know.

Thanks and I’ll see you soon