In the News.. Dexcom and Garmin partner, faster insulin tested, once a week basal and more...

Top stories this week include: a new adjunct therapy is being tested for type 1, Dexcom and Garmin will officially work together (no more DIY needed), once weekly basal insulin study, can psychedelic drugs prevent type 2?! and Australia bets on Rugby for diabetes education

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Episode transcription below: 

Hello and welcome to Diabetes Connections In the News! I’m Stacey Simms and I am on location this week. I’m at the She Podcasts LIVE conference.. but the news doesn’t wait. So.. 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 – and in the show notes at d-c dot com when this airs as a podcast.. so you can read more if you want, on your own schedule.
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In the News is brought to you by Real Good Foods! Find their breakfast line and all of their great products in your local grocery store, Target or Costco.
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Our top story.. There’s a lot of buzz these days around adjunct therapy for diabetes.. basically another treatment along with insulin. Earlier this year, a drug so far just named TTP-399 got FDA breakthrough therapy approval. A new study shows it works well to keep people with type 1 out of DKA. This was small study, 23 people. They found that TTP-399 can help lower blood glucose without increasing the risk of DKA.
It’s important because other adjunct therapy.. such as S-G-L-T-2 inhibitors do help lower blood glucose, but the FDA has said they cause too much of a risk of DKA in people with type 1. Those are brand names like Invokana and Jardiance.
Pivotal trials of TTP-399 begin later this year.
https://www.biospace.com/article/vtv-therapeutics-type-1-diabetes-drug-shows-promise/
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New partnership announced today - Dexcom and Garmin. You will still need your phone.. I knew you were going to ask.. but with the new Dexcom Connect IQ apps you can now see your Dexcom G6 info on your compatible Garmin smartwatch or cycling computer.
Jake Leach, chief technology officer at Dexcom says.. Garmin is the first partner to connect through the real-time API, which we told you about a few months back.
Basically, you’ll be seeing more connectivity without having to use a third party, community sourced work around which a lot of people do now.
The name here is interesting, right? Connect IQ, very similar to Tandem’s Control IQ. But since Dexcom owns a bit of Tandem, maybe that’s no coincidence. I’ve requested an interview with Dexcom so maybe we’ll find out.

garmin.com/newsroom, email [email protected], or follow us at facebook.com/garmin, twitter.com/garminnews, instagram.com/garmin, youtube.com/garmin or linkedin.com/company/garmin.
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New study about time in range, hybrid closed loop systems and faster insulins. The headline here is that using Fiasp with the Medtronic 670g system resulted in greater time in range. How much? The Fiasp group spend 82 point 3 percent time in range.. the Novolog group spent 79.6 percent time in range. This was over 17 weeks and the participants mostly bolused AT meal times, not before, no prebolusing. The researchers echo what I was going to say here, quote – “While the primary outcome demonstrated statistical significance, the clinical impact may be small, given an overall difference in time in range of 1.9%.”
So just a heads up if you see headlines screaming about how much faster Fiasp is because of this study.
https://www.endocrinologyadvisor.com/home/topics/diabetes/type-1-diabetes/fast-acting-insulin-aspart-versus-insulin-aspart-closed-loop-type-1-diabetes/
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People who have tried a psychedelic drug at least once in their lifetime have lower odds of heart disease and diabetes. This is a University of Oxford study published in Scientific Reports.
These researchers examined data from more than 375-thousand Americans who had taken part in an annual survey sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Participants reported whether they had ever used the classic psychedelic substances including LSD, mescaline, peyote or psilocybin. They also reported whether they had been diagnosed with heart disease or diabetes in the past year.
The researchers found that the prevalence of both conditions was lower among psychedelic users.
While no one is recommending you start taking mushrooms to avoid diabetes.. there’s a growing push to start serious research to investigate the link between psychedelics and cardio-metabolic health.
https://www.psypost.org/2021/10/psychedelic-use-associated-with-lower-odds-of-heart-disease-and-diabetes-study-finds-61958
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Update on the once a week basal insulin I’ve been reporting on for a while.. both Lilly and Novo Nordisk are testing their own version of this.. this most recent study looks at the Lilly version called Tirzepatide. These researchers found it to be safe and effective with lower rates of hypoglycemia and slightly lower A1Cs than daily basals like Lantus or Tresiba.
Lots of studies ongoing here, for both brands of potential once a week dosing, including a large phase 2 program that includes people with type 1.
https://www.healio.com/news/endocrinology/20211012/novel-onceweekly-basal-insulin-safe-effective-in-type-2-diabetes
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More to come, including how rugby and diabetes education may go together.. But first, I want to tell you about one of our great sponsors who helps make Diabetes Connections possible.
Real Good Foods. Where the mission is Be Real Good
They make nutritious foods— grain free, high in protein, never added sugar and from real ingredients—we really like their breakfast line.. although Benny rarely eats the waffles or breakfast sandwiches for breakfast.. it’s usually after school or late night. Ugh.. do your teens eat breakfast? You can buy Real Good Foods online or find a store near you with their locator right on the website. I’ll put a link in the FB comments and as always at d-c dot com.
Back to the news…
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Getting out of the doctor’s office and into something that people can actually relate to.. Diabetes Australia is using rugby to teach men about the risks of type 2 diabetes.
League Fans in Training (League-FIT) is based on a Scottish initiative that used football teams to deliver exercise and nutritional advice to overweight and obese men.
The program includes education and goal setting and a rugby league-based exercise session, delivered by coaches and some of the club’s players. What I really like about this is that -from what I can tell - they’re focusing on small changes and not telling these guys to give up everything they like to eat and drink or that they have to become professional players to get a little bit more fit.
Imagine if NFL players had a clinic for fans to come and learn a little bit about fitness and nutrition? Again, not to be pros.. just to live a little better and lower risks of type 2.
https://www.diabetesaustralia.com.au/news
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On Diabetes Connections this week, we’re talking to a mom with type 1 who has had two children during the pandemic. One last summer and the other just a few days before our interview!
That’s In the News for this week.. if you like it, please share it! Thanks for joining me! See you back here soon.