In the News: FDA considers a T1D prevention drug, new sensor approved and more..

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

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European approval for Medtronic's new no-calibration sensor

FDA considers a drug to prevent T1D

New info about gestational diabetes

A potential type 1 vaccine moves forward

Telehealth update (and what's next after COVID)

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Episode transcription and links below: 

 

May 26, 2021

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Hi, and welcome to Diabetes Connections In the News! A short weekly newscast full of the top diabetes stories and headlines of the past week. I’m Stacey Simms & whether you’re joining me live on Facebook or watching or listening after, I’m here to get you up to speed quickly

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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”

In The News this week..

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Bit of breaking technology news today as Medtronic gets European approval for its Guardian 4 sensor. This is their newest sensor which requires no fingersticks for calibration or diabetes treatment decisions. Medtronic says they’ll start integrating this sensor into the 780G pump and InPen offerings in the fall.

No word on a timeline for US approval for the Guardian 4 sensor.

MedT Guardian 4: https://investorrelations.medtronic.com/news-releases/news-release-details/medtronic-secures-two-ce-mark-approvals-guardian-4-sensor-inpen

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FDA advisory committee may give more information and feedback on the first treatment to delay or even prevent type 1 diabetes as early as tomorrow. They’ll decide if Teplizumab is safe and effective.

This is not full FDA approval, but it’s another step toward releasing what is an IV drug, given as a single 14-day course of infusions.

If you’ve heard us about the TrialNet studies on this on the podcast over the last few years.. that’s what most of the evidence is coming from. Their studies showed a relative 59% reduction in risk for developing T1D and a delay of diagnosis of 2 to 3 years.

https://www.medpagetoday.com/endocrinology/type1diabetes/92784

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Another new treatment for type 1 diabetes moves into clinical studies.. this is a vaccine that looks like it prevents the destruction of insulin producing cells in the pancreas.

DiabetesMine has an excellent report on this and we’ll link that up here so you can read the whole thing. But the Swedish biotech company Diamyd has been working on this immunotherapy vaccine for two decades, including a study where they injected it into the lymph nodes of the study participants.

Their large-scale Phase III trials will start this year in Europe and the US and will include more than 300 children and young adults recently diagnosed with T1D.

Diamyd vaccine: https://www.healthline.com/diabetesmine/diamyd-type1-diabetes-vaccine

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A new long term study shows that women diagnosed with gestational diabetes are more prone to type 2 and type 1 diabetes later in life. It’s been known for some time that gestational diabetes is linked to the risk of type 2.. but these researchers say auto-antibody testing should be considered in order to have a better understanding of all the risks

In this study, 50% of women who experience gestational diabetes go on to develop type-2 diabetes later in life and almost six percent developed type-1 diabetes. This 23 year long study was presented at the European Congress of Endocrinology

 

Gestational diabetes increases risk for T2 and T1 https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-05/esoe-als051921.php

More info to back up what a lot of patients have been saying for a long time. If an endocrinologist  is negative or belittling, people stop listening to them and even stop going for check ups and prescriptions.

University of Florida Diabetes Institute polled their minority communities recently and found that the main challenge is support from their endo. Or lack of support

These researchers looked at people who missed two or more endocrinology appointments, have experienced diabetes-related complications in the past year and receive primary care at a federally qualified health center.

The study found when people from minority or low-income groups report negative and belittling interactions with their endocrinologist, they stop going to appointments. These researchers say they want to look at implicit bias in care and do something about it.

 

 

Endo attitudes: https://www.wcjb.com/2021/05/21/university-of-florida-study-uncovers-equity-disparity-within-type-1-diabetes-community/

Telemedicine – no surprise – skyrocketed for people with type 1. From less than 1% before the COVID-19 pandemic to about 95% in April 2020, according to study data.

In March 2020, clinics in the T1D Exchange Quality Improvement Collaborative began attending virtual meetings to share progress and best practices with the shift to telemedicine. Researchers collected the monthly number of type 1 diabetes visits and HbA1c values collected from a subset of 11 pediatric clinics and two adult clinics from December 2019 to August 2020.

 

The researchers noted the proportion of telemedicine visits varied widely at each clinic.

About 62% of clinics performed both video and phone visits. Zoom was the most popular platform, used by 62% of centers. More than 95% of clinics also used CareLink, t:connect, Clarity or Glooko to view diabetes data remotely.

Most centers had diabetes educators, registered dietitians and social workers participating in telemedicine. However, only 15% of clinics said a psychologist participated in telemedicine. All clinics provided continuous glucose monitor training through telemedicine and 70% provided insulin pump training.

 

Telemedicine https://www.healio.com/news/endocrinology/20210521/telemedicine-visits-rapidly-increase-at-type-1-diabetes-clinics-during-covid19-pandemic

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 when a belief thought to be settled science turns out to be wrong. And to illustrate that point they talk about the horse poop crisis of New York City. It was real and it resolved in a way no one expected. Listen to Inside the Breakthrough wherever you listen to podcasts..

 Can a game – with competition – really help people live a more healthy lifestyle? A one year trial with people with type 2 diabetes tracks steps and game elements such as points and levels. Some also received social support from a family member or friend. A third group just got the tracking device.

Everyone in the study lost weight and lowered their A1Cs but those who didn’t play the game took fewer steps and tracked less activity overall.

A lot of gamified apps have come and gone in the diabetes space.. these researchers say the competitive aspect may be the key.

Game study for T2 https://www.mobihealthnews.com/news/gamification-step-count-leads-more-activity-diabetes-focused-study

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 Banting House, the birthplace of insulin.

Thanks and I’ll see you then!