In the News...Does insulin use differ by gender? T1D & Covid update, fully implantable CGM studied, and more!

It’s In the News! A look at the top diabetes stories and headlines happening now. Top stories this week: A new study looks at insulin needs in men vs women, updates on stem cell transplants and a new look at COVID 19 and T1D plus a fully implantable CGM is announced. We'll also tell you about a T1D athlete drafted to the MLB. Lots more in this week's episode, full transcipt below. 

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Episode transcription with links:

 

Hello and welcome to Diabetes Connections In the News! I’m Stacey Simms and every other Friday I bring you a short episode with the top diabetes stories and headlines happening now.

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In the news is brought to you by Edgepark simplify your diabetes journey with Edgepark

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Do men and women have different insulin requirements? A new study conducted across Europe says yes – women overall need less. Published in the Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology this looked at over 9,000 adults with type 1 diabetes using data from patients using the Diabeloop Generation 1 (DBLG1) hybrid closed-loop pump system.

In this study, women needed 14-percent less insulin overall than men. These researchers say these findings have important implications for the practical management of insulin therapy and highlight the necessity of considering gender as a crucial factor in diabetes treatment. The treatment guidelines provided by American and European Diabetes Societies do not currently have gender-specific recommendations for insulin-weight ratios.

The co-founder and Chief Scientific and Technical Officer for Diabeloop. “This study also highlights the capacity to discover new insights from big-data analysis of real-world data.”

*Insulin Requirements According to Gender and Weight in a Population of 9036 Adult Persons With Type 1 Diabetes Using Closed-Loop Insulin Delivery, https://doi.org/10.1177/19322968241252366).

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/markets-news/GetNews/27419187/diabeloop-study-reveals-significative-gender-differences-in-insulin-requirements-for-type-1-diabetes-patients/

 

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New drug therapy in those lucky diabetic mice boosted insulin-producing cells by 700% over three months, effectively reversing the disease.

Scientists at Mount Sinai and City of Hope have been able to grow new beta cells in the body, in a matter of months.

The therapy involved a combination of two drugs: one is harmine, a natural molecule found in certain plants, which works to inhibit an enzyme called DYRK1A found in beta cells. The second is a GLP1 receptor agonist. The latter is a class of diabetes drug that includes Ozempic,

The researchers tested the therapy in mouse models of type 1 and 2 diabetes.. The signs of the disease quickly reversed, and stayed that way even a month after stopping the treatment.

 

The results are intriguing, but of course being an animal study means there’s still much more work to be done before it could find clinical use. So far, harmine alone has recently undergone a phase 1 clinical trial in humans to test its safety and tolerability, while other DYRK1A inhibitors are planned for trials in humans next year.

https://newatlas.com/medical/diabetes-reversing-drug-boosts-insulin-producing-cells/

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Stem cell–derived beta-cell replacement therapy continues to show benefit in people with type 1 diabetes at a high risk for severe hypoglycemia. New info from Vertex shows that of a total 17 patients who received a full dose of their  investigational allogeneic stem cell–derived, fully differentiated pancreatic islet cell replacement therapy (VX-880), three, thus far, have achieved the primary study efficacy endpoint of elimination of severe hypoglycemic episodes with A1c < 7% at 1 year and the secondary endpoint of insulin independence.

Others are on the same trajectory, Piotr Witkowski, MD, PhD, professor of surgery at The University of Chicago, Chicago, said at the recent American Diabetes Association (ADA) 84th Scientific Sessions. In his presentation, Witkowski also provided details about the deaths of two study participants that the company had announced in January 2024, neither of which were related to the VX-880 product.

In fact, there have been no severe adverse events related to the product itself, with most due to either the infusion procedure or the immunosuppression. "These data highlight the curative potential of VX-880 in people living with type 1 diabetes and support further evaluation of VX-880 toward pivotal development," Witkowski said.

For now, patients selected for the study are those who experience frequent severe hypoglycemia deemed to be a greater risk to the patient than that of immunosuppression.

However, Ahn pointed out, "With VX-880, the obvious fly in the ointment is the need for immunosuppression which carries significant risk…There are multiple solutions being proposed, but we are still waiting for data as promising as the initial Vertex data is on that front."

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/stem-cell-derived-islets-continue-show-benefit-t1d-2024a1000cx1

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Still lots of COVID studies coming in about type 1. A German study suggests COVID 19 may speed up progression of existing but presymptomatic T1D in kids.

These researchers had been screening and following children in an early presymptomatic stage of type 1 diabetes for several years. They noticed an increase in the numbers of Incidence of clinical type 1 diabetes nearly doubled after the pandemic started.

"We know that the virus can infect the pancreatic islets so it could be causing damage or change in the beta cells that make insulin," said Ziegler when discussing possible mechanisms behind this association. "Second, there is generalized inflammation during the infection and there may be a stimulation of the immune response. Third, there could be metabolic stress from the infection that affects the beta cells that make insulin.

To dive into this topic, youth were identified in the German Fr1da-screening program from 2015 to 2023. All patients had presymptomatic diabetes defined as persistent, confirmed positive results for two or more islet autoantibodies. Their progression was monitored at 3- to 6-month intervals. Clinical type 1 diabetes was defined according to American Diabetes Association

 

COVID infection was either self-reported via the family or identified with SARS-CoV-2 antibodies were confirmed in blood samples collected at study visits.

 

Vaccination against COVID-19 may be one way to protect presymptomatic type 1 diabetes youth from progression, Ziegler added. She said her group is currently testing whether COVID-19 vaccination can reduce new-onset, presymptomatic type 1 diabetes in a clinical trial  of children with genetic risk factors for the condition.

https://www.medpagetoday.com/endocrinology/type1diabetes/111084

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The FDA says no – for now - to Novo Nordisk's weekly insulin.  This has been approved in Canada and should be available there shortly. But the FDA says it wants more information related to the manufacturing process and the type 1 diabetes indication to complete the review.

Novo said it does not expect to be able to fulfil the requests this year, and that it will work closely with the FDA regarding the next steps.

The regulator's decision follows its outside panel's vote against the use of the weekly insulin icodec, in patients with type 1 diabetes due to risks of low blood sugar.

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-fda-declines-approve-novo-nordisks-weekly-insulin-2024-07-10/

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A couple of weeks ago we spoke to the attorneys taking on CGM monitronig in schools. They’ve helped a family in Connecticut and set a precdent.  A child with autism and diabetes was not getting reasonable accommodations under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act in a public preschool program. I’ll link up the press release from the DOJ but this family wasn’t getting any support and it just wasn’t safe. The lawyers here tell me the ruling and settlement is just going to help them going forward as they try to make schools complient with CGM as a reasonable  accomodatin.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ct/pr/aba-therapy-provider-make-changes-comply-americans-disabilities-act

 

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Ozempic could lower the risk of dementia and a range of other mental problems compared with other existing treatments for patients with diabetes. What’s more, researchers found that Ozempic cut nicotine dependence in those patients.

 

This study relied on medical records from more than 100,000 U.S. diabetes patients, including more than 20,000 who were prescribed semaglutide between December 2017 and May 2021.

After a year, patients who took Ozempic had a 48% lower risk of developing dementia than those on Januvia. The risk in Ozempic patients was also 37% lower than those who took Glucotrol and 9% lower than those on Jardiance.

Notably, previous research has determined that diabetes patients are at a greater risk of developing dementia.

But the authors emphasized that the analysis is observational. The results need to be replicated in a controlled trial that assigns patients to randomly take Ozempic and the other drugs, according to Dr. Max Taquet, another Oxford clinical lecturer and senior study author.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/16/healthy-returns-ozempic-may-lower-dementia-risk-nicotine-use.html

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Edgepark Commercial

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The Omnipod 5 with Dexcom G7 integration is now available through select pharmacies with full availability expected in the fall.

 

The System uses new Pods that are compatible with both Dexcom G6 and G7, but the prescription code will stay the same as the current Omnipod 5 Pods. This means the community will have similar insurance coverage and access to what they have with Omnipod 5 today.

 

If you're looking to start on Omnipod 5 and you're currently using Dexcom G7, your doctor will need to send a prescription for both the Omnipod 5 Intro Kit and Omnipod 5 Pods, compatible with Dexcom G6-G7, to ASPN Pharmacies.

 

You can learn more at https://www.omnipod.com/innovation/dexcom-g7.

 

If you are already using Omnipod 5, you will get the new Pods compatible with Dexcom G6 and G7 through your Pod refills. You do not need a new prescription. The week of July 29th, you will receive a free software update for the Omnipod 5 App to your Controller or compatible Android smartphone which is needed to use the System with Dexcom G7. Accept the update. We recommend you continue to use your current Omnipod 5 Pods and Dexcom G6 supplies until the new Pods compatible with Omnipod 5 with Dexcom G6-G7 are available at your preferred pharmacy.

 

We'll email our users when the new Pods are available in most pharmacies.

 

You can learn more at

https://www.omnipod.com/innovation/new-compatible-devices

 

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Big promises about long-term implantable blood glucose monitor from a company called Focus. They say they’re partnering with Glucotrack to quote - transform how people with diabetes interact with their condition.

They’re not calling this a CGM – rather it’s a CBGM, continuous blood glucose monitor because it will measure glucose levels in blood, not in interstital fluid like CGMs do. They company says this is a fully subdermal location, with no external wearable. In preclinical studies, the CBGM has a MARD of 4.7% at day 90. That is MUCH lower than CGMs on the market – Dexcom and Libre are in the low 8s right now. BUT.. it hasn’t been fully tested in people yet. Human clinical trials are set to start later this year.

https://www.drugdeliverybusiness.com/focus-collaborates-glucotrack-implantable-cbgm/

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Big congrats to Jamie Ferrer (Chy-may Fer-rare)

On Monday, Ferrer’s dream was realized when the Twins selected the Florida State outfielder in the fourth round (No. 126 overall) during Day 2 of the MLB Draft. Minnesota vice president of amateur scouting Sean Johnson said the club had its eyes on Ferrer since high school.

“Recently, I was in Orlando at a conference called, “Friends for Life with CWD [Children with Diabetes],” and we had an event that was a sports day. … Kids would come up to me and either them or their families would ask me how I dealt with this [or that],” Ferrer said. “And seeing their faces light up whenever I said I was diagnosed at three and I played college baseball. … You hear people tell you no and that you can’t do this because you have Type 1 diabetes … So why not inspire as many people as I can?”

 

“I’m super proud of being a Type 1 athlete, and it’s something that I’ll never shy away from talking about or showing off my insulin pump because it’s who I am and it’s something that I’ve had to deal with my entire life.”

https://www.mlb.com/news/jaime-ferrer-selected-no-126-overall-by-twins-in-2024-mlb-draft

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