In this week’s issue of The Savvy Diabetic:
- Dexcom 15-Day CGM: 25% May Not Last for 15 Days
- 39 States Push Legislation Against PBM-Pharmacy Ties to Protect Competition
- Beta Bionics iLet After 2 years, with Stacey Simms
- Take a Brisk Walk for Heart Health
- How Much Protein Do We Need Daily
- Vitamin K Affects Brain Health
- Magnitude of Diabetes-Related Waste Should Be ‘Wake-Up Call’
- Abbott US Diabetes Sales Up 27%
- Wearing Socks May Help You Sleep Better
Dexcom 15-Day CGM May Not Last … by Justin Eastzer for Diabetech.info, 16 April 2025.
For adults 18 and older, Dexcom’s 15-day G7 sensor is officially cleared and arriving in the U.S. the second half of 2025—but the fine print is worth a closer look. While this extended wear time is a welcomed change, Dexcom’s own data reveals that only 73.9% of sensors lasted the full 15 days in trials. That means 1 in 4 sensors may fail early, potentially leaving users with gaps in coverage and raising questions about Dexcom’s current sensor replacement policy.
This update could bring huge benefits—fewer sensor changes, less waste, and potentially better insurance coverage—but only if the 15-day promise holds up in real life.
Read more: Dexcom G7 15-Day Sensor Gets FDA Cleared — But Will It Actually Last That Long?
39 States Push Legislation Against PBM-Pharmacy Ties to Protect Competition by Daniela Dehaghani for KATV.com, 14 April 2025.
The National Association of Attorneys General, representing a bipartisan coalition of 39 state and territory attorneys general, has formally called on congressional leaders to pass legislation that would prohibit pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) from owning or operating pharmacies. PBMs, initially established to manage prescription drug benefits on behalf of health plans, have undergone significant evolution due to widespread horizontal consolidation and vertical integration.
This shift has transformed pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) from administrative facilitators into powerful industry gatekeepers. Today, each of the six largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) maintains ties to its own pharmacies, and five are integrated with parent companies that also own insurance firms and healthcare clinics.
In their appeal to Congress, the coalition of attorneys general underscored the urgent need for reform. They argued that PBMs have gained excessive market power, using it to generate substantial profits while reducing patient access, driving up drug costs, and lowering the quality of care.
Read more: 39 states push legislation against PBM-pharmacy ties to protect competition
The iLet, Two Years In: Real-World Insights & What’s Next for Beta Bionics, a podcast by Stacey Simms for Diabetes-Connections.com, 15 April 2025.
The iLet insulin pump system has been out in the real world for almost two years now. How’s it going? Stacey Simms talks with Beta Bionics Chief Medical Officer Dr. Steven Russell about what they’ve learned from people using the system, what changes they’re making in future iterations, and how the quest for a pump that uses insulin and glucagon is progressing. This is a deep dive episode.
Simple walking hack could boost your heart health by Hatty Willmoth for ScienceFocus.com, 16 April 2025.
Walking briskly, and for longer periods of time, could help protect you against heart rhythm abnormalities, and in turn protect you from heart attack, heart disease and stroke. That’s according to a recent study published in Heart, a title owned by the British Medical Journal.
They found that adults who reported walking with a quick pace, defined as more than 4 miles per hour (mph), were 43 per cent less likely to develop heart rhythm abnormalities over 13 years, compared to those who said they walked slowly, less than 3 mph. Most people walk at around 3.5 mph, so a 4 mph walking pace feels brisk – like a purposeful walk that will slightly raise your heart rate and quicken your breathing, but not enough to stop you from being able to talk.
“But when gadgets were used to measure actual movement, the benefits were starting to be seen among people walking at an average pace for at least five minutes per day. So, even small changes to lifestyle could make a big difference,” said Professor Jill Pell, Henry Mechan Professor of Public Health at the University of Glasgow and senior author of the study. “[Brisk walking] reduced blood pressure and cholesterol,” said Pell. “It reduced glucose levels and hence the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and it made you less likely to put on weight. It also reduced inflammation in the body.”
Read more: Simple walking hack could boost your heart health
Protein propaganda is everywhere. Here’s what the science actually says. by Gretchen Reynolds for WashingtonPost.com, Updated 18 April 2025.
Protein propaganda is everywhere. Go shopping for groceries, and you’ll find cereals, granolas, bars and even coffees with added protein. On social media, influencers swear the nutrient builds strong, bulging physiques, trims away body fat, and supercharges metabolisms. The nearly ubiquitous message is that, whoever we are, we need more protein. But most of us are probably getting enough protein, although highly active people may need a little more.
“The devil is in the details,” said Stuart Phillips, a professor of kinesiology at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, and an expert on protein, physical activity, and health. Here’s what the science says about protein, and why most of us probably don’t need to worry about getting more of it.
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- You do need protein, but not tons of it. If you’re sedentary, you officially need about 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight, according to the recommended daily allowance set by the government’s Food and Nutrition Board. The recommendation “for protein might be enough to keep us alive, but it is too low for physically active people,” said Eric Rawson, a professor of nutrition and exercise at Messiah University in Mechanicsburg, Pa.
- Excess protein may just get peed out. Our muscles can only take in and use so much of this stuff.
- You don’t need that whey shake. Supplements, like shakes and bars, “are convenient,” Phillips said. But so is a hard-boiled egg, which contains about 6 grams of protein, or a chicken breast.
- Extra protein probably won’t help you lose weight. Because protein fills you up, it helps you eat less, and your body has to work harder to break it down. As a result, you expend more calories digesting protein compared to carbs or fatty foods. But the actual amount of that extra calorie burn “is tiny,” Phillips said.
- Protein after a workout and before bed may have benefits. “I’m an advocate of spreading protein throughout the day, especially making sure you consume enough at breakfast,” Nicholas Burd, the director of the Nutrition and Exercise Performance Research Group at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, said. Consuming protein at every meal helps regulate appetite and provides a steady supply of amino acids for working muscles.
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Read more: Protein propaganda is everywhere. Here’s what the science actually says.
New research deepens understanding of how vitamin K affects brain health by Julie Raffery for MedicalXpress.com, 8 April 2025.
As scientists seek to unravel the intricate potential connections between nutrition and the aging brain, a new study from researchers at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts University is shedding light on how insufficient consumption of vitamin K may adversely affect cognitive function as people age.
The study, conducted in middle-aged rodents, suggests that a lack of vitamin K may increase inflammation and hamper the proliferation of neural cells in the hippocampus, a portion of the brain that is capable of generating new cells and is central to functions such as learning and memory.
Vitamin K is found in green leafy vegetables such as Brussels sprouts, broccoli, green peas, kale, and spinach. It is already known to play an essential role in blood clotting, and research suggests it may also have positive effects on cardiovascular health as well as joint health, says Sarah Booth, director of the HNRCA and senior author of the study. Booth is also a professor at the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. “There is also research that indicates vitamin K contributes to brain function and that brain function declines during the aging process,” says Tong Zheng, lead author of the study and a research scientist at the HNRCA. “Vitamin K seems to have a protective effect.
Read more: New research deepens understanding of how vitamin K affects brain health
Magnitude of diabetes-related waste should be ‘wake-up call’ for stakeholders by Michael Monostra for Healio.com/endocrinology, 16 April 2025.
Researchers are aiming to raise awareness about the amount of waste generated by the use of diabetes devices, insulin, and other treatment tools. In a small study published in Diabetes Care, researchers estimated that the average person with diabetes disposes of 2.7 lb to 3.3 lb of diabetes-related waste per month. Participants reported that their primary concerns were related to excessive waste from bulk products, excessive packaging, single-use or non-reusable products, and materials that were difficult to recycle.
David C. Klonoff, MD, FACP, FRCP (Edin), Fellow AIMBE, medical director of the Diabetes Research Institute at Mills-Peninsula Medical Center and principal investigator on the study, said the findings should prompt the healthcare community to prioritize waste reduction in diabetes product manufacturing. “We think that the main purpose of this study was a wake-up call to the diabetes community, so we can get all of these stakeholders more aware, working together and putting less waste or poorly recycled material into the process.”
Read more: Magnitude of diabetes-related waste should be ‘wake-up call’ for stakeholders
Abbott US diabetes device sales up 27% amid largely positive Q1 by GlobalData.com, 17 April 2025.
Despite major product launches from diabetes rivals last year, Abbott’s diabetes unit brought in $1.8bn total Q1 sales to kickstart the year. Abbott has posted strong revenue for its diabetes devices in Q1, despite overall company sales narrowly missing Wall Street expectations. The medtech giant reported a 4% increase in year-over-year overall revenue, totaling $10.36 billion.
“Updates this quarter support our thesis that the company’s strong new product launches and portfolio in medical devices, along with its diversification across sectors, should lead to a manageable impact from macro on its supply chain. We thus continue to view Abbott as a name that should outperform in this environment,” William Blair analyst Margaret Kaczor Andrew said in an equity research note.
Read more: Abbott US diabetes device sales up 27% amid largely positive Q1
Yes, wearing socks to bed may help you sleep better by Lindsey Bever for WashingtonPost.com, 16 April 2025.
