Food for Thought
Recent research reveals that "Compounds found in pumpkin could potentially replace or at least drastically reduce the daily insulin injections that so many diabetics currently have to endure." Is this a story to follow or are we just waiting for the clock to strike midnight?
Talk about it in the dLife Community Forum.
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Cool Weight Loss Tool
Add this to the list of cool gadgets we'd like to try. The bodybugg armband is a wearable monitor that offers a running total of the number of calories you're burning (your Total Energy Expenditure, or TEE).
What's the big deal? Because the bodybugg not only tracks calories burned through regular exercise, but it also tracks TEE from the more mundane tasks of life, like changing a diaper, pumping gas, or even taking a nap. It does this by measuring skin temperature, physical motion, galvanic skin response, and rate of heat loss. And the manufacturer, Bodymedia, offers an impressive array of scientific studies proving the efficacy of the product in accurately tracking calorie burn.
The device interfaces with a proprietary bodybugg website, where you can upload your device data and input your food intake for the day. The site then computes your calorie deficit - the key to weight loss.
The bodybugg doesn't come cheap. It retails at $399, which includes a 3-month subscription to the website. While pricier than a pedometer, from a weight loss utility perspective the bodybugg may be worth the added expense.
RELATED: Diabetes and Technology
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Welcome to the Future
Some attendees at last week's Atlanta Diabetes Expo got a bit of high-tech swag along with their free glucose gel samples and insulin brochures. VeriMed implanted eighteen Expo attendees with an radio-frequency identification device (RFID) - a microchip about the size of a grain of rice that holds the entire health history of a patient. A handheld scanner, utilized in a growing number of hospitals nationwide, unlocks the patient's information should they be unconscious or unable to communicate.
RFID chips are typically implanted in the right upper arm, just under the skin. They are inserted by a doctor utilizing an injection procedure, similar to a shot. Once a handheld scanner reads your chip number, it draws on a patient database to pull up your health history, contact and physician information, and other voluntary information. The chip (including cost for insertion by a doctor) is several hundred dollars, with an annual fee to keep your health data available and current.
Even if you do go high-tech and get the chip, remember that it doesn't replace visible medical identification worn on the body. Currently, only 449 hospitals nationwide use the RFID scanner. And people around you still need to know you have diabetes in case you have a crisis situation outside of the emergency room.
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Pen Pal
Good news for gadget lovers. Lilly has debuted their new HumaPen MEMOIR, the first digital insulin pen. The MEMOIR, which dispenses Humalog insulin, allows patients to record and review their last 16 insulin doses by time and amount at a push of a button With its Waterman stylings and sleek chrome detail, It's not too shabby looking, either.
The Boston Herald reports that the reusuable unit will retail for around $100, with discount coupons at launch giving early adapters a $45 deal (insulin cartridges extra).
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dLife Talks to Nancy Pelosi About Stem Cell Debate
dLifeTV recently sat down for a one-on-one interview with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to discuss the controversial issue of embryonic stem cell research and what pending legislation means for people with diabetes and other chronic diseases everywhere. Don't miss this exclusive interview at dLife.com.
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Tell Your Diabetes Educator
Are there times when you wish you could reach your diabetes educator anytime, anyplace? Now, dLife is offering a way to do just that. myDiabetesEducator.org is a brand new customizable web tool that offers diabetes educators their own professional website -- powered with multi-media content and tools from dLife and personalized by each educator -- at no cost to them. As soon as your educator sets up their site, you have access to it 24/7 to get diabetes information; check support group and class topics, times, and locations; make appointments; download logs and charts; tune into dLifeTV segments; and read blogs and expert columns. Tell your educator about it today!
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The 24-Hour Glucose Channel
Curious about the new continuous glucose monitors out there? This month, dLife columnist Amy Tenderich offers her first-hand experience with 24/7 monitoring in "The 24-Hour Glucose Channel."
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Of Mice and Men
Dr. Denise Faustman raised eyebrows in 2003 when she announced curing type 1 diabetes in mice by short-circuiting the autoimmune attack responsible for wiping out insulin-producing beta cells. And when major cure-focused non-profits eschewed her research in favor of funding more "promising" techniques like islet cell transplant, philanthropist Lee Iacocca stepped up to the plate and began a nationwide campaign to further Faustman's work.
But now the non-profits and the NIH may just sit up and take notice. In the current issue of Science, not just one but three separate studies confirm that Faustman's technique works - at least in mice. It's important to remember that it's a big leap from animal studies to human success, and the new research did not confirm that new beta cell growth came from spleen cells, as Faustman had previously hypothesized. Still, the new studies boost her case for a potential type 1 diabetes cure without the need for transplant.
Meanwhile, Faustman and colleague Dr. David Nathan continue their work at Massachusetts General Hospital, with a phase I human clinical trial planned for 2007. Now that the story is making headline news across the country, it will be interesting to see where the money goes in the ongoing search for a cure.
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Downsizing Inhalable Insulin
Technosphere inhaled insulin is entering phase III clinical trials, according to manufacturer MannKind Corporation. Successful phase III trials are typically the last step before a drug is submitted to the U.S. FDA for regulatory review.
The drug, which was developed by insulin pump pioneer Al Mann, uses the proprietary MedTone inhaler device that administers the insulin. The inhaler fits in the palm of your hand and, all other things being equal, the convenience of the device over Exubera's comparatively bulkier delivery system could be a big plus when it finally comes to market.
RELATED:
Find out more about inhaled insulin.
dLifeTV video - See the MedTone inhaler in "New Diabetes Products."
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Exubera Approved
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced yesterday that the agency had approved the first inhaled insulin - Exubera - for use in adults with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. The FDA has also required that Pfizer, the drug's manufacturer, conduct a long-term study in 5,000 Exubera patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes to monitor whether lung function decreases over time. In clinical trials, the drug caused a short term decrease in lung function in some patients.
Find out more about Exubera's approval here.
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Diabetes Technology
dLife columnist Amy Tenderich has a sneak peek of this week's Diabetes Technology Society conference over at Diabetes Mine. From nanotechnology to glucose sensing tattoos, there's lots of cool stuff on the horizon.
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ElectroNeedles
A new painless method of blood glucose testing is under development at a highly unlikely place -- the National Nuclear Security Administration's Sandia National Laboratories. Dubbed ElectroNeedles, the thumbnail-sized device came out of the Bio-MicroFuel Cell research project, which investigated methods of harvesting sugar from plants and animals. Read more about ElectroNeedles here.
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GlucoWatch Redux?
A non-invasive, continuous blood glucose monitor that you wear on your wrist? Sounds awfully familiar. Plano, Texas-based Calisto Medical has announced the successful completion of preliminary clinical trials for the Glucoband. GlucoWatch, anyone?
As you may recall, Glucowatch developer Cygnus sold its stake in the blood glucose monitoring technology to Animas Corporation earlier this year after less-than-stellar sales of the product and a legal battle with Sankyo Pharma, former marketing and distribution partner. We'll see how Calisto avoids the technological and user-unfriendly pitfalls the GlucoWatch couldn't.
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