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Modern Life Without a Pancreas

My hiking shoes were just laced up when there was a frantic vibrating in my pocket. I reached inside, took out the iPod-sized medical device and checked the screen. Up at the top, where my blood glucose would normally read, was a series of glowing question marks. Great.

It had been over a week since I’d inserted my last continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) sensor and it had started acting up earlier that morning, with missed readings. Each of these disposable sensors lasts for about a week, transmitting the number representing my blood sugar level in real time to a small handheld receiver. It figured that just as I was about to head out on a Saturday morning hike with my husband and…

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Articles of Interest

How to prevent diabetes and heart disease for $16

In this article I’m going to introduce a simple technique that, when used properly, is one of the most effective ways to maintain healthy blood sugar and prevent cardiovascular and metabolic disease – without unnecessary drugs.

A Diabetes Monitor That Spares the Fingers

The FreeStyle Libre, made by Abbott, is a flash glucose sensor that allows people with diabetes to view our blood sugar every minute of the day without a single finger prick. While there are similar devices on the market — called continuous glucose monitors, or CGMs — the Libre is the least invasive one I’ve seen.

A Do-It-Yourself Revolution in Diabetes Care

Now, as consumer gadgets weave themselves ever more tightly into everyday life, patients and their families are finding homespun solutions to problems medical-device manufacturers originally did not address. Industry executives say the pace of user-driven innovation was one reason the Food and Drug Administration recently reclassified remote glucose-monitoring devices, hastening approval for new models by big companies like Dexcom and Medtronics.

Apple’s needleless blood sugar tracker has an uphill battle in front of it

Rumors are flying that Apple is developing some kind of wearable that would continuously track the user’s blood sugar without breaking their skin. For people with diabetes, this would be a huge improvement over the somewhat invasive or downright painful options they currently rely on. But experts warn that if the rumors are true, Apple will be facing a scientific and technological battlefield littered with decades of other companies’ failures.

Checking Your Blood Sugar--Without Checking Your Blood

“As well as being a replacement for finger-prick testing,” Jose explains, “this technology opens up the potential for people with diabetes to receive continuous readings, meaning they are instantly alerted when intervention is needed.”

Diabetics can now test their blood sugar levels with a mobile device

People living with diabetes have to prick their fingers to check their blood sugar levels anywhere from one to seven times a day. But now, there’s a better way to monitor blood sugar. This week, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the first at-home, needleless system for continuously monitoring glucose for people with diabetes. The system, called FreeStyle Libre Flash, and manufactured by the DC-based Abbott Laboratories, allows users to forgo finger-pricking for up to 10 days at a time.

Easier Blood-Sugar Monitoring for Diabetics

A new generation of devices promises an easier way to measure blood sugar in people with diabetes—and in doing so reduce the chances that the disease will lead to long-term complications.

Monitoring: An End to Pricked Fingers

While these devices offer a glimpse into an exciting future—eventually the monitors may be able to automatically adjust insulin pump doses, operating as a kind of mechanical pancreas—a few major obstacles remain in the short term.

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There Will Be Blood Pricks

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This Diabetes Activist Hacked Her Medical Device and Made an Artificial Pancreas

While not everyone is ready to hand over the reins of their insulin pump to a DIY piece of software, there are a great many who want to be able work with their own data, but aren't allowed because device manufacturers won't open up their APIs or make the data available to download.

This Woman Designed - And Texts - Her Own Pancreas

Dana Lewis texted her pancreas on Thursday. Of course, the text wasn't the typical "Hey, what's up?" or "You free tonight?" Instead, it was a command to give her blood's glucose level a little boost - she needed to give herself a bit of a buffer ahead of a big speech.

Time in range: a new way for people with diabetes to monitor blood sugar

Time in range, a new metric for people with diabetes, would have made no sense to those living with this disease 75 years ago because they rarely, if ever, knew what their blood sugar level was at a particular moment.

We finally have an “artificial pancreas” for diabetes. But it's a letdown

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What Is a Continuous Glucose Monitoring Device – and Can It Help Me?

Make CGM use a little easier with these suggestions.

Resources

Best continuous glucose monitors

If you're considering switching to a continuous glucose monitor, try one of these.

Continuous Glucose Monitoring Devices Comparison

Choosing a Continuous Glucose Monitor is a big decision. Here we breakdown the top CGMs, their manufacturers, and features so you can select the right CGM to fit your lifestyle.

Dexcom

With the Dexcom G5™ Mobile app, you’ll have the world’s first continuous glucose monitoring system on your smart device. You can view your real-time glucose data and trends right on your phone and share your data with loved ones and caregivers.

Eversense

Eversense is the first and only long-term implantable CGM with a sensor that lasts up to 90 days AND has a removable transmitter.

FreeStyle Libre

Diabetes is complex enough. Monitoring your diabetes shouldn’t be.

GlySens

GlySens Incorporated is a privately held corporation devoted to developing the world’s first truly long term continuous glucose monitoring system, intended to dramatically improve the lives of people with diabetes. The GlySens fully implanted sensor—demonstrated up to 18 month lifetime in preclinical testing—wirelessly links to a convenient external receiver,

Guardian

Medtronic is the only company that offers standalone CGM and sensor-integrated pump therapy, which streamlines the process for optimal customer experience. Other CGM companies do not offer an integrated system, requiring an insulin pump from a different company.

January AI

Wearing a CGM (continuous glucose monitor) and Heart Rate Monitor, our advanced AI will give you personalized advice on how to stay in check.

Levels

Levels tracks your blood glucose in real time, so you can maximize your diet and exercise.

MiniMed

MiniMed combines your CGM and insulin delivery into one intuitive system that adjusts to you — reducing guesswork and helping you stay on track.

Nutrisense

The glucose sensor is easy and pain-free to apply.

The Nightscout Foundation

The Nightscout Foundation exists to encourage and support the creation of open source technology projects that enhance the lives of people with Type 1 Diabetes and those who love them. This includes fundraising, advocacy, and direct software and hardware development.

CGM in the Cloud

CGM in the Cloud is a group for those to share their experiences with open source solutions to send data from the Dexcom G4 to the cloud so that it can be accessed anywhere...so our kids/friends/parents can be monitored while they are in another room, in another state, at a play date, sleepover, sports activity, or even at school.