We Hold TheseTruths to be Self-Evident, Except Trials are Required.

Medtronic has a press release out today that says with Low Glucose Suspend (LGS) folks spend less time in hypos. That seems kind of intuitive to me but hey the studies need to be done. It it wasn't a small difference IHMO. 19% less time in hypos.

You can read the press release here or click this graphic to see what is said in markets that aren't the USA and where people with diabetes can get a LGS pump.

YDMV has burned a fair number of electrons on and around LGS. Here is hoping this helps the FDA focus on the value this step brings living safe lives with insulin infusion.

What do yo think?
Would you like LGS?
Would you use it?

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Anyone have a Dummies Guide to @ANTPlus

Or maybe a not so dumb but new to it patients guide to how ANT+ may impact the diabetes space?

The headline reads:

ANT+ Expands Established ULP Wireless Ecosystem to Further Support Mobile Platforms and Augment Unique Use Cases in Sport, Fitness and Health

and down in the text it has this bullet: 

• Dexcom Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM): showing real-time glucose information at a glance. ANT+ technology will be incorporated into future products to enable connectivity with personal electronic devices.

Anyone up on this? 'Cause I aint and I would like to be. Here's why in case you forgot:

http://www.ydmv.net/2012/02/dexcom-acquires-sweet-spot-is-dewy-on.html

Best Diabetes Parenting Advice - Updated

As theBetes:NOW has reposted a short video of my diabetes parenting hero.



At my first CWD Friends for Life I heard this dad simply say, "My wife and I are our daughter’s primary care team.”

Brilliant. This piece of wisdom had been updated when theBetes:NOW caught up a few years later. The new message,"She'll become her own Primary Care Giver.”



What do yo think, who is the primary care giver in your diabetes life?

Previously on YDMV: Of Independence and Angry Mobs

#TwoBits on Green and Orange at CWD Conshy

Children with Diabetes held a tech conference in Philly, will Conshy (Conshohocken) PA over the weekend. A very good friend asked why I go to these. Simple because when it is all said and done I need to recharge the batteries to have the energy to do the right stuff as opposed to the easy stuff. Diabetes Burn out takes different forms with parents, doing to little or even worse doing to much and making diabetes the focus of life.

So for me the focusing on diabetes for a day helps me focus on not over focusing on diabetes the rest of the time.

Here two other great views of the event form around the DOC. Kerri talks about some of the frustrations and diabetes burn out stuff and definitively defines CGM'er and Art Panc.

I finally got to briefly meet another DOC dad, Scott Benner, (Like the DOC needs another Scott, someone needs to do a study of the name Scott and the correlation to T1D.) He is someone I have admired from a far (and someone I swiped a this image from, Thanks Scott). We're both orange but I would say we bleed green.

Love to know who else is orange or green.

@GlookoInc Upgrade: Carbs

Glooko has an upgrade out. Makes it easier to look up carbs and "with one click add the value to your note."

Their email goes on to say,"Say goodbye to your bulky carb counter book and hello to a comprehensive digital food database. No more adding up carbs in your head, or recording them on paper. Use Glooko Logbook to search nutritional information, adjust for serving sizes, and automatically enter in your logbook.  Tracking the food you eat anytime, anywhere on your iPhone and putting it context of your blood glucose readings, helps you stay on top of monitoring diabetes.   

Upgrade to the newest version of the Glooko Logbook app on iTunes." 

Click here for a previous YDMV Glooko post

Check them out on the web http://www.glooko.com/
or Twitter: http://twitter.com/GlookoInc

Dexcom Acquires Sweet Spot. Is Dewy on the way?

Dexcom released their earnings call online today. (Listen here for your self to see how off I am in my reporting.)


These calls are like a crystal ball. Fun but future looking. I looked for a picture of a Dexcom and a crystal ball ad found Kerri's Dexcom isn a glass with a super cute cutest Birdie picture. Close enough.

Right off the bat I found it interesting. Terry Gregg announced the acquisition of SweetSpot http://www.sweetspotdiabetes.com/.

Even the most casual reader of YDMV knows I have a particular interest in diabetes data. SweetSpot was identified on the call as adding sophisticated diabetes data management to the Dexcom portfolio. Terry Gregg identified two shortcoming in the Dexcom offerings; CGM pump integration and universal data integration. Ultimately they hope to see seamless data flow from the CGM to a mobile device and into the cloud.

Dexcom also mentioned the recent Tandem and Roche agreements. Interestingly the used the term “open architecture” repeatedly on the call in the CGM pump context.

Generation 4 sensors were said to be expected to be submitted to the the FDA end of Q1 early Q2 2012 and it sounds like CGM/Pump about a quarter days after Gen 4. YDMV.

Gen 5 was briefly mentioned and in the context of connecting out to open architecture devices including mobile and the cloud. Also accuracy was said to be at therapeutic levels.

The business model for sweet spot was covered in a question. At times it sounded a little big brother like with the VA, clinics and possibly insurers being customers of the data service. Naturally I would love to hear more about patients and later in the call they noted that the current product is approved for clinics.  Patients can see see what the clinic sees gets, so i guess (key word guess) patients aren't approved recipients of SweetSpot. A desire for a more patient centric data model was shared by one of the Dexcom C suite dudes. Anything is ways off in the future. There was also mention of criticism from the physician community of Dexcom for not having a means of connecting Dexcom information to the clinic. The future is digital and the acquisition of SweetSpot look like good positioning of the future.

At about 36 minutes into the call there was an interesting exchange on the Gen 5 product and the FDA. Specifically comments about the FDA concern that the health data being primary in on the mobile device. There were some interesting real world comments about os upgrades and aps running on devices. It was brief but good to know someone is having the conversations with the FDA and helping move the ball forward. I am sure the conversations are happening elsewhere but still it comforting to hear about the exchanges. Also interesting comments at about 56 min about their relationship with FDA. I'm "happy" with the FDA, industry has to make an effort.

On a personal note my kids don’t like carrying another thing so getting the CGM into the pump and ultimately the cloud is a step that may help them choose to wear sensor more.

Full disclosure, I own Dexcom shares.

http://www.ydmv.net/2012/01/of-fantasy-diabetes-devices-sheldon.html

JDRF Research Summit on theBetesNOW

Over on theBetesNOW.com there is one of the presentations from last weekend's Research Summit put on by the Capital Chapter. Mark Atkinson talks about the top ten things we don't know about Type1 Diabetes. Worth the 25 minutes.

Love to know your thoughts.


http://www.ydmv.net/2012/02/huge-props-to-jdrfcapitol.html

theBetes:NOW Back from a crash

theBetes:NOW is a project directed by my daughter Kelley and often featuring Connor with some producing by YDMV. The goal has been a more visual less text based and quick media around diabetes. One key part of the process was to be joyful.

If you have been to a CWD event like Friends For Life you know that teens living with diabetes are kids. First and foremost they are optimistic, happy, joyful people and diabetes is coming along for the ride.

Sadly theBetes:NOW was hacked and had to be taken down last summer but it is back. The catalogue of films is being reposted and new material is going up. In fact a new piece made at the JDRF Research Summit with AYUDA Inc. just went up. In line with the message that Andreas offered about a big world and a small community while this message is not in english I would love your thoughts on if the message of happy, optimistic joy rings true.

Juntos somos más Fuertes! / Together we are stronger!


http://www.ayudainc.net/

This week on #dsma

Huge Props to @JDRFCapitol

Next to CWD’s Friends for like the JDRF Capital Chapter Research Summit has to be the best type 1 event of the year. Great presentation by folk dedicated to making life with diabetes better on the way to cures. The order matters. Improving care is critical and will come as a result of searching for cures.

Cures. I don’t see a magic bullet coming but I do see different approaches to tackling things that will count as a cure. Those will happen like everything does in increments. Along that journey we’ll see better care before cures. Like everything with diabetes you better care and your cure may vary. So prevention may come before restoration of beta cell function, that’s cool, steps matter.

I get energy from this summit. The strength to keep hoping.  Maybe even believing there will be a cure someday. In the mean time life progresses is being made to better. Better understanding. Better ways of care. Better Lives. That progress requires individual involvement, starting with believing, then learning and participating from knowledge.

That is how all life works, believe, learn, act.
Why should diabetes be any different than life?

More later. First things first. Thanks and appreciation to the JDRF Capital Chapter. Until then here are some links that may be interesting:

JDRF and IDDP
Last Year's Capital Chapter Research Summit