In this week’s issue of The Savvy Diabetic: 

• • • Why the Most “Accurate” Glucose Monitors Are Failing Some Users
    • Sudden Cardiac Death Cuts Life Expectancy of People With Diabetes
    • How Simulation Could Fast-Track The Diabetes Tech Review Process
    • Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults (LADA)
    • 6 Types of Medications That Can Harm Your Kidneys
    • Holiday Greetings

Why the Most “Accurate” Glucose Monitors Are Failing Some Users by Gwendolyn Rak for Spectrum.IEEE.org, 9 December 2025.

The new, seventh-generation model (aptly called the G7) made by San Diego-based healthcare company Dexcom had just begun shipping in the United States in 2023. Dexcom claimed the G7 to be the “most accurate sensor” available to the thousands of people with Type 1 diabetes who use continuous glucose monitors to help manage their blood sugars. But Heller found that its real-world performance wasn’t up to par. In a September 2023 post on his Substack, which is dedicated to covering Type 1 diabetes research and management, he wrote about the experience and predicted an increase in adverse events with the G7, drawing on his past experience leading tech and biotech companies.

In the two years since Heller’s experiment, many other users have reported issues with the device. Some complaints regard failed connections and deployment issues, which Dexcom claims to have now addressed. More concerning are reports of erratic, inaccurate readings. A public Facebook group dedicated to sharing negative experiences with the G7 has grown to thousands of users, and several class action lawsuits have been filed against the company, alleging false advertising and misleading claims about device accuracy.

Yet, based on a standard metric in the industry, the G7 is one of the most accurate glucose sensors available. “Accuracy in the performance of our device is our number one priority. We understand this is a lifesaving device for people with Type 1 diabetes,” Peter Simpson, Dexcom’s senior vice president of innovation and sensor technology, told IEEE Spectrum. Simpson acknowledged some variability in individual sensors, but stood by the accuracy of the devices.

So why have users faced issues? In part, metrics used in marketing can be misleading compared to real world performance. Differences in study design, combined with complex biological realities, mean that the accuracy of these biosensors can’t be boiled down to one number—and users are learning this the hard way.

MARD is often used in advertising and marketing, and it has a historical relevance, says Manuel Eichenlaub, a biomedical engineer at the Institute for Diabetes Technology Ulm in Germany, where he and his colleagues conduct independent CGM performance studies. For years, there was a general belief that a MARD under 10 percent meant a system would be accurate enough to be used for insulin dosing. In 2018, the FDA established a specific set of accuracy requirements beyond MARD for insulin-guiding glucose monitors, including Dexcom’s. But manufacturers design the clinical trials that determine accuracy metrics, and the way studies are designed can make a big difference.  Dexcom and other companies advertise a MARD around 8 percent. But some independent studies are more demanding and find higher numbers; a head-to-head study of three popular CGMs that Eichenlaub led found MARD values closer to 10 percent or higher.

Read more: Why the Most “Accurate” Glucose Monitors Are Failing Some Users

Sudden Cardiac Death Cuts Life Expectancy of People With Diabetes by Sue Hughes for Medscape.com, 12 December 2025.

People with diabetes face a threefold to sixfold increased risk for sudden cardiac death and a shorter life expectancy than the general population, and this risk is especially noticeable among younger adults, a new study showed. “We found that sudden cardiac death occurs more frequently in people with diabetes across all age groups, and that sudden cardiac death has a substantial impact on the shortened life expectancy seen in individuals with diabetes. That’s a new finding; and the magnitude of the contribution of sudden cardiac death to reduced life expectancy surprised us,” said lead author Tobias Skjelbred, MD, of Copenhagen University Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark. The study was published in the European Heart Journal on December 4.

The difference in risk was greatest in younger adults with diabetes, with people under 50 having a seven times higher risk for sudden cardiac death. This probably reflects the low background risk for sudden cardiac death in younger people, making the relative impact of diabetes appear larger. The research also showed that the average life expectancy for individuals aged 30 years was 14.2 years shorter for those with type 1 diabetes and 7.9 years shorter for people with type 2 diabetes than the general population. 

A key limitation of this study is that it focuses on deaths in 2010, which do not take into account the effect of newer cardioprotective diabetes treatments such as SGLT2 inhibitors and GLP-1 receptor agonists.

Read more: Sudden Cardiac Death Cuts Life Expectancy of People With Diabetes

How Simulation Could Fast-Track The Diabetes Tech Review Process by Team Diabetech for Diabetech.info, 29 September 2025.

At its core, diabetes tech is about creating reliable “control loop,” systems that sense changes, make decisions, and act to keep glucose levels safe. From insulin pumps to continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), every tool is essentially designed to replicate the body’s natural processes with as little burden as possible.

Lane Desborough joins us on the podcast to share how his background in engineering, combined with his personal journey as a parent of a child with T1D, has helped him reshape the direction of diabetes technology. Drawing from decades of work in control systems, he co-founded Nightscout, was Chief Engineer at Medtronic, and co-founded Bigfoot Biomedical. Today, he is focused on his project, AIDIF, working to build a simulation frameworks that regulators and companies can rely on so innovation can reach people faster. 

Lane Desborough shares how his background in engineering, combined with his personal journey as a parent of a child with T1D, has helped him reshape the direction of diabetes technology. Drawing on decades of work in control systems, he co-founded Nightscout, served as Chief Engineer at Medtronic, and co-founded Bigfoot Biomedical. Today, he is focused on his project, AIDIF, working to build a simulation frameworks that regulators and companies can rely on so innovation can reach people faster. 

Latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA) by Sarah Linklater for BreakthroughT1d.ca.  I am hearing more and more about LADA … and folks diagnosed with T1D in their 40s, 50s and 60s.  Let’s learn together.

Latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA), also known as type 1.5 diabetes, is a form of type 1 diabetes (T1D) that has features of both T1D and type 2 diabetes (T2D). LADA is estimated to account for approximately 10% of all adult diabetes diagnoses. A commonly used definition for LADA is from the Immunology of Diabetes Society, which has the following diagnostic criteria:

• • • • • Adult-onset of diabetes (>30 years of age)
        • Diabetes associated autoantibodies present 
        • Insulin not required for at least 6 months after diabetes diagnosis

The autoimmune process in LADA happens more slowly than in typical T1D, which is why insulin therapy is not needed right away at diagnosis. LADA is also a heterogeneous disease. Therefore, there is substantial variability in when each person living with LADA progresses to requiring insulin therapy. Importantly, because hyperglycemia (high blood glucose) levels are generally lower at diagnosis than in typical T1D, LADA is often misdiagnosed and managed as T2D.

Being diagnosed with LADA may mean completely changing your lifestyle and including family members, and potentially employers and colleagues, in the new normal that you must establish. It may also bring emotional and mental health challenges, because diabetes can be a difficult and demanding condition. Daily management, dealing with emergencies, fear of complications and other health issues, and modifications to treatment, can be overwhelming at times. 

6 Types of Medications That Can Harm Your Kidneys by Barbara Sadick for AARP.org, 11 December 2025.

Most prescription drugs are excreted by the kidneys, and so are many of the medications you buy over the counter. Whether or not you have decreased kidney function, it’s important to speak with your doctors and pharmacist about what medications you’re taking, how much you’re taking, and how often you’re taking them. Doses may have to be adjusted to prevent adverse effects, toxicity, and increased damage to your kidneys.

Dr. Steven Coca, associate professor of medicine and a nephrologist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, says you should know your estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), which is the primary measurement of kidney function, and your urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR), a marker of kidney damage.

People who are most vulnerable to medication-induced adverse kidney events include those 65 and older, those with underlying kidney disease, people who are dehydrated, patients with low blood pressure, and those who have other health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease or have had heart surgery or transplantation, says Dr. Karthik Ramani, a nephrologist at Michigan Medicine at the University of Michigan.  Here are some of the medications that can affect your kidneys.

Common pain medications: nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and acetaminophen. 

• • • • • Antibiotics 
        • Laxatives  
        • Contrast dyes
        • Acid suppressants  
        • Herbal supplements  

Read more: 6 Types of Medications That Can Harm Your Kidneys

From us to all of you dear readers, wishing you serenity and joy! with hugs … joanne & richard