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Blood Glucose Monitoring With One Touch

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LifeScan Inc., a leader in blood glucose monitoring, recently announced the new OneTouch Verio Reflect™ system received Health Canada’s authorization for sale and will be available in stores beginning mid-May 2019.

The only blood glucose monitoring system with the new Blood Sugar Mentor™ messages, this new device analyzes and informs patients of blood glucose trends and potential causes and provides them with personalized guidance that could help them understand what causes their hypo or hyperglycemia.

The OneTouch Verio Reflect™ meter also features the ColourSure® Dynamic Range Indicator (ColourSure® PLUS) that is an expansion of ColourSure® technology from the OneTouch® brand.

ColourSure® PLUS technology can help patients understand when a glucose result is near high or low so that they can make adjustments before going out of range.

The OneTouch Verio Reflect™ meter with built-in Bluetooth® Smarti Technology also syncs seamlessly with the OneTouch Reveal® mobile app.

Connecting with the OneTouch Reveal® mobile app enables even more insights to help users manage their diabetes – including automatic detection and notification of high and low patterns to help avoid them in the future as well as Blood Sugar Mentor™ messages.

The pairing will also enable customization of device settings and synchronization of tagging from the app, which continues to be one of the top downloaded diabetes apps in Canada, according to the company.

“The OneTouch Verio Reflect™ system delivers real-time, personalized guidance and encouragement based on a patient’s blood glucose results,” says Barb Jackalin, Country Head, LifeScan Canada. “The new system is customizable to people with diabetes and their needs over time, adding significant value for both patients and their care teams.”

Jackalin says Lifescan will continue to innovate for patients and accelerate progress with solutions such as OneTouch Verio Reflect™ system, the only meter with Blood Sugar Mentor™ messages and OneTouch Reveal®.

The OneTouch Verio Reflect™ system was highlighted in February at the 12th International Conference on Advanced Technologies & Treatments for Diabetes (ATTD) as a culmination of multiple sessions held with various diabetes leaders and stakeholders on the continued importance of SMBG and the possibilities of connected systems which use smartphones as an enabler.

“People living with diabetes face the challenge of balancing diabetes management tasks with living life to the fullest,” says Dr. Michael Vallis, associate professor of family medicine, Dalhousie University. “Awareness of blood glucose levels and identification of highs and lows allow the individual to stay within a safe zone, but at the cost of significant time and effort.”

Vallis says this meter can make the work of diabetes management less demanding by providing intuitive, easily understood feedback at the moment by making sensitive suggestions and providing reinforcement and mentoring.

As a health psychologist in diabetes, he sees this system as “doing the heavy lifting” regarding blood glucose management. “I look forward to seeing people incorporate greater diabetes self-care without sacrificing their quality of life,” he says.

The OneTouch Verio Reflect™ meter will be available at stores in Canada beginning mid-May 2019. The OneTouch Reveal® mobile app is available as a free download for Apple®ii devices on the App Store® and Android™ devices on Google Play™ in Canada and 23 other countries globally.

LifeScan Inc.

Source:

  1. The OneTouch Verio Reflect™ Blood Glucose Monitoring System (BGMS) with Blood Sugar Mentor™ Messages Coming Soon to Canada. (2019, April 16). PR Newswire. Retrieved: https://prnmedia.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-onetouch-verio-reflect-tm-blood-glucose-monitoring-system-bgms-with-blood-sugar-mentor-tm-messages-coming-soon-to-canada-827677735.html

The post LifeScan OneTouch Verio Reflect(TM) System Coming Soon to Canada appeared first on dLife.

The Human Cost of Type 1 Diabetes

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More than 1.25 million Americans have Type 1 diabetes. In 30 short years, we will have more than 5 million diabetic children and teenagers. An estimated 40,000 people are diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes each year. 200,000 people under the age of 20 years old have Type 1 diabetes.

These statistics are horrific.

Type 1, Juvenile diabetes was a death sentence, not too many years ago.

Type 1 diabetics are different from Type 2 diabetics. Those having Type 1 have a pancreas that is not producing insulin. Because of the increased rate of diabetes in our children the pressure is on to find new ways to treat this disease.

This article looks at Type 1 diabetes, considers different treatment options and explores the often forgotten nutritional elements.

Type 1 diabetes: Overview, symptoms, and treatment

 

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More Ways to Cope With Type 1 Diabetes and Low Blood Sugar …

 

By JANE E. BRODYOCT. 24, 2011

With all the concern these days about the nationwide epidemic of Type 2 diabetes, it’s easy to lose sight of the less common but much more serious form of diabetes called Type 1.

Long known as juvenile diabetes, Type 1 diabetes affects about one million Americans and most often begins in childhood, though the condition sometimes develops in adults. It is incurable, and it demands near-constant attention to blood sugar levels and treatment with insulin to keep them normal. A failure to do so can quickly become fatal.

Both types of diabetes involve an inability of the hormone insulin to do its job, but for different reasons. Insulin shuttles blood sugar, or glucose, from the bloodstream into the body’s cells, where it is used as fuel. In Type 2 diabetes, which can develop at any age, the pancreas usually produces an adequate supply of insulin, but body tissues become resistant to its effects, often because of excess weight or obesity. Weight loss often reverses the condition.

Rotavirus Vaccine May Protect Against Type 1 Diabetes – The New …

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An Australian study found that in children up to 4 years old, the rate of Type 1 diabetes decreased by 14 percent in the years after the rotavirus vaccine’s introduction.

By Nicholas Bakalar

The vaccine that prevents rotavirus, which can cause severe gastric problems in children, may have another benefit: lowering the risk for Type 1 diabetes in toddlers.

Read More: Rotavirus Vaccine May Protect Against Type 1 Diabetes – The New …

From: www.niddk.nih.gov
Published: N/A

Making beta cells from people with type 1 diabetes | NIDDK

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

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Scientists generated functional β (beta) cells from the skin cells of people with type 1 diabetes. In type 1 diabetes, a misguided attack by the immune system leads to the destruction of insulin-producing β cells found in clusters called islets in the pancreas. Although administration of insulin via injections or a pump is life-saving, it does not mimic the exquisite blood glucose (sugar) control of the pancreas. Therefore, scientists are pursuing strategies to replace the destroyed β cells. One way to do that is through islet transplantation—an experimental procedure using islets from a cadaveric donor. The procedure has shown promise for people with difficult-to-control diabetes, but has significant challenges: donor islet tissue is limited, and immunosuppressive medications, which have toxic side effects, are required to prevent rejection of tissue transplanted from another person. Toward overcoming the first barrier, scientists recently developed a new laboratory production method to make large quantities of β cells—called stem-cell derived β (SC-β) cells—from human stem cells. This method could, with further development, be used to make β cells from a sample of cells from a person with type 1 diabetes in the quantities needed for transplantation back into that same person. These cells would likely need protection from the autoimmune attack, but might not need toxic immunosuppressive medications to prevent rejection of the tissue.

To investigate this possibility, in new research, scientists used skin cells from three people with type 1 diabetes (T1D cells) and three people without diabetes (ND cells). By introducing specific factors into these cells and using the new large-scale production method they developed, they made the skin cells become stem cells—cells that could later become any cell type. They then, by introducing other factors, coaxed these stem cells to become SC-β cells (T1D SC-β cells and ND SC-β cells). Cells from the two different origins showed no differences in the ability to become SC-β cells, indicating for the first time that cells from a person with type 1 diabetes could be used to make SC-β cells.

Next, the scientists demonstrated that the T1D SC-β cells functioned like healthy β cells. For example, in laboratory culture, T1D SC-β cells secreted insulin in response to glucose; they also released insulin in response to diabetes drugs that are known to stimulate insulin secretion, demonstrating their potential for use in screening for new diabetes drugs. The T1D SC-β also functioned in live animals: when T1D SC-β cells were transplanted into male mice, they produced insulin in response to glucose and controlled the animals’ blood glucose levels.

Read More: Making beta cells from people with type 1 diabetes | NIDDK

From: www.cnbc.com
Published: 26-Jan-2016

A cure for type 1 diabetes a step closer

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Research into a possible cure for type 1 diabetes has taken an “important step forward,” according to the latest research by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University.

The study, which was published in journals Nature Medicine and Nature Biotechnology on Monday, builds on work by the Harvard Stem Cell Institute which last year discovered a way of creating beta cells (whose primary function is to store and release insulin) which could then be implanted in mice and, it is hoped in future, humans with diabetes.

Now, in the latest development, scientists and researchers at MIT and Harvard, in collaboration with other university experts, have developed an implantable device that could prevent those implanted insulin-producing cells from being attacked by the immune system for six months – effectively allowing the insulin-producing cells to do their job.

Diabetes is a lifelong condition that causes a person's blood sugar (glucose) level to become too high. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system kills off the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. Daily injections of insulin are the primary treatment but are only partially successful in regulating patients' metabolism.

Read More: Cure for type 1 diabetes a step closer

From: vancouversun.com
Published: 16-Jan-2018

Stem cell implant trial aims to reverse Type 1 diabetes | Vancouver …

 

The device created by ViaCyte contains millions of cells in packets that are implanted under the skin, in hopes they will function like pancreatic cells. The Human Trial / PNG

About 10 British Columbians with Type 1 diabetes will be surgically implanted with packets containing lab-grown cells that are coaxed into behaving like true insulin-producing pancreatic cells in hopes of reversing their disease.

The first patient to receive the implants is keen to exchange his regime of daily pinprick blood tests and insulin injections for a “handful” of pills for immune suppression.

“My blood sugar can go down all day without my noticing, so I’m always at risk for passing out among other health problems,” said Joshua Robertson. “The risks of immune suppression (medication) are well known and it’s no comparison.”

Study: Low-carb diet beneficial to children with Type 1 Diabetes;

By Anahad O’Connor

New York Times News Service

Like many children, Andrew Hightower, 13, likes pizza, sandwiches, and dessert.

But Andrew has Type 1 diabetes, and six years ago, to control his blood sugar levels, his parents put him on a low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet. His mother makes him recipes with diabetic-­friendly ingredients that won’t spike his blood sugar, such as pizza with a low-carb, almond-flour crust and homemade bread with walnut flour instead of white flour.

Andrew’s diet requires careful planning — he often takes his own meals to school. But he and his parents say it makes it easier to manage his condition, and since he started the diet, his blood sugar control has markedly improved and he has had no complications requiring hospital visits.

Read More: Study: Low-carb diet beneficial to children with Type 1 Diabetes;

From: www.medpagetoday.com
Published: N/A

Carb-Light Diet Helps T1D Patients Achieve Glycemic Control …

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Newly Discovered Protein Prevent Hypoglycemia

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People with diabetes who use insulin to control their blood sugar are prone to experience, hypoglycemia a dangerous condition when blood sugar levels fall too low.

Now, researchers at Saint Louis University School of Medicine have recently discovered protein in the pancreas, called neuronostatin that could lead to insight to prevent the condition, which could be deadly.

In previous work, their work has shown that the protein protects against hypoglycemia by causing the pancreas to release less insulin and make more glucagon, a hormone that helps regulate blood sugar levels.

What is Hypoglycemia?

For people with diabetes, taking too much insulin can lead to low blood sugar, causing dizziness and sleepiness. Symptoms may progress to confusion, seizures, and loss of consciousness if blood sugar levels continue to fall.

Severe hypoglycemia can also increase the risk of more hypoglycemic episodes in the following days and leads to a decreased awareness of the symptoms that typically allow a person to sense falling blood sugar levels.

“There are very few options for preventing hypoglycemia or treating hypoglycemia unawareness other than avoiding low blood sugar as much as possible,” says Stephen Grote, a doctoral student at Saint Louis University School of Medicine.

“Understanding what neuronostatin does and how it works will give valuable information for preventing hypoglycemia and offer more complete knowledge into how the pancreas manages blood sugar normally,” he adds.

What are the Findings?

In a new rat study, the researchers observed that neuronostatin injections caused an increase in blood sugar. They also examined human pancreas tissue and found that it released more neuronostatin when blood sugar levels were low and that neuronostatin increased even more with glucagon treatment.

The new research points to neuronostatin as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment and prevention of hypoglycemia in people with diabetes.

“Neuronostatin is a truly novel reason, and everything we find about it pushes our knowledge of its therapeutic potential just a bit further,” says Grote. “We believe that studying neuronostatin could ultimately show a way to use it to help prevent and reverse vicious cycles of hypoglycemia by helping the body respond appropriately to the low blood sugar with more glucagon.”

hypoglycemia

Severe hypoglycemia can increase the risk of more hypoglycemic episodes in the following days and leads to a decreased awareness of the symptoms that typically allow a person to sense falling blood sugar levels. Image Courtesy of Stephen Grote.

The Way Forward

The researchers are now working to better understand how neuronostatin affects glucagon and insulin release from human islets and how the body regulates neuronostatin secretion.

They are also using experimental approaches that disrupt the body’s response to low blood sugar to investigate how this affects neuronostatin levels and to determine if neuronostatin can be used to better manage low blood sugar.

The research will be present the research at the American Physiological Society’s annual meeting during the 2019 Experimental Biology meeting to be held April 6-9 in Orlando, Fla.

Source:

  1. New hope for preventing dangerous diabetes complication. (2019, April 8). EurekAlert! Retrieved: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-04/eb-nhf032819.php

The post Could Understanding a Newly Discovered Protein Prevent Hypoglycemia? appeared first on dLife.

5 Tips For Travelling With Diabetes

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Travelling with Diabetes

Travelling with diabetes can be easy. Planning ahead before you travel reduces anxiety. 

These diabetes travel tips are easy to execute and critical to your diabetic direction. They are especially important when you're traveling overseas. 

Possessing a pre-travel checkup.

  1. Get the right shots for almost any country you intend to see. Ideally, it ought to be from the language spoken in the nation you are visiting. 
  2. Not everybody speaks your language and you do not need medical issues through compliments.
  3. Maintain your medicine and sugar snacks on your hand-luggage. 
  4. Check-in bags does, sadly, go awry. Do not risk your diabetes medicine by packaging it into your primary luggage. 
  5. 5) Be conscious of time zone shifts, particularly if shifting your watch. 

Remember if you journey east your day gets shorter; should you journey west the day becomes more. You might have to change the timings of your medicine.

Traveling shouldn't be traumatic. A sensible attitude and a little bit of pre-travel planning could make things move much more easily.

Animal Protein Is Not Good for Your Health

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A diet rich in animal protein and meat, in particular, is not good for your health, a new study from the University of Eastern Finland finds.

Men whose primary sources of protein were animal-based had a 23% higher risk of death during the follow-up than men who had the most balanced ratio of animal and plant-based protein in their diet.

The researchers found a high intake of meat, in particular, seemed to associate with adverse effects: men eating a diet rich in meat, i.e. more than 200 grams per day, had a 23% greater risk of death during the follow-up than men whose intake of meat was less than 100 grams per day.

The men who participated in the study mainly ate red meat. The mean age of the men participating in the study was 53 years at the onset, and diets clearly lacking in protein were not typical among the study population.

How was the Study Conducted?

The study is based on the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study (KIHD) that analyzed the dietary habits of approximately 2,600 Finnish men aged between 42 and 60 at the onset of the study in 1984-1989.

The researchers studied the mortality of this study population in an average follow-up of 20 years by analyzing registers provided by Statistics Finland.

The analyses focused on the associations of dietary protein and protein sources with mortality during the follow-up, and other lifestyle factors and dietary habits were extensively controlled for, including the fact that those eating plenty of plant-based protein followed a healthier diet.

Most nutrition recommendations nowadays limit the intake of red and processed meats. In Finland, for example, the recommended maximum intake is 500 grams per week.

The study also found that a high overall intake of dietary protein was associated with a greater risk of death in men who had been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease or cancer at the onset of the study.

A similar association was not found in men without these diseases.

“These findings should not be generalized to older people who are at a greater risk of malnutrition and whose intake of protein often remains below the recommended amount,” Heli Virtanen from the University of Eastern Finland points out.

The researchers say the findings highlight the need to investigate the health effects of protein intake especially in people who have a pre-existing chronic medical condition.

Earlier studies have suggested that a high intake of animal protein, and especially the consumption of processed meats such as sausages and cold cuts, is associated with an increased risk of death. However, the big picture relating to the health effects of protein and different protein sources remains unclear.

The findings were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Featured image: A diet rich in animal protein is not good for the health. Eating more than 200 grams of meat per day increased the risk of death. Credit: Raija Törrönen.

Source:

  1. Diet rich in animal protein is associated with a greater risk of death. (2019, April 10). EurekAlert! Retrieved: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-04/uoef-dri041019.php

The post Study: A Diet Rich in Animal Protein Is Not Good for Your Health appeared first on dLife.

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