FDA Clears iLet Bionic Pancreas System for Type 1 Diabetes by Kristen Monaco for MedPageToday.com, 19 May 2023.
The new iLet Bionic Pancreas system was cleared by the FDA for patients 6 and older with type 1 diabetes, the agency announced. The pocket-sized system features the Beta Bionics iLet ACE pump fitted with the iLet Dosing Decision Software. Both newly cleared arms of the system are then paired with a compatible FDA-cleared integrated continuous glucose monitor (CGM). The clearance comes after the FDA granted the system Breakthrough Device Designation in late 2019. The fully automatic system demonstrated its efficacy in a successful pivotal trial published last September in the New England Journal of Medicine
“Today’s action will provide the type 1 diabetes community with additional options and flexibilities for diabetes management and may help to broaden the reach of AID [automated insulin dosing] technology,” said Jeff Shuren, MD, JD, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, in a statement. “The FDA is committed to advancing new device innovation that can improve the health and quality of life for people living with chronic diseases that require day-to-day maintenance like diabetes through precision medicine approaches.”
The closed-loop system doesn’t require any insulin dosing parameters to initialize — only using the patient’s body weight — and doesn’t require manual adjustment of insulin delivery rates, making it “easier to initiate than other available AID systems” on the market. The system also boasts a meal announcement feature, estimating carb consumption at mealtime as either small, medium, or large, thus removing the need for traditional carb counting. From there, the algorithm adapts to the individual’s insulin needs over time, not requiring bolus insulin devilries for meals or corrections. The pump can be configured as an insulin-only bionic pancreas, a glucagon-only bionic pancreas, or a bihormonal bionic pancreas using insulin and glucagon.
Read more:
GLP-1 obesity treatments like Ozempic may help restore natural anticancer defenses by Robby Berman for MedicalNewsToday.com, 15 May 2023.
A new study finds that GLP-1-based weight-loss drugs directly re-activate critical cancer-fighting immune cells that have become defective due to obesity. The study’s authors assert that this occurs in addition to the cancer-preventing weight-loss effect of GLP-1 drugs. The study finds that GLP-1 reestablished the metabolism of the body’s circulating “natural killer,” or NK, cells, restoring their ability to destroy cancer cells. The study, from Maynooth University in Ireland, is published in Obesity.
NK cells are innate immune system lymphocytes that, when healthy, are an important feature of the immune system’s quick response to a pathogen. Previous research has found an association between obesity and impaired NK cells that are less able to kill malignant cells, leaving people with obesity exposed to a higher risk of numerous cancers. Obesity is linked to increased mortality from cancer as well as other diseases.
“GLP-1” is an abbreviation for “glucagon-like peptide-1,” a receptor agonist that mimics the effects of the GLP-1 hormone. Drugs based on GLP-1 help people eat less by promoting an extended sensation of being full.
Read more: GLP-1 obesity treatments like Ozempic may help restore natural anticancer defenses
Should you stop using sugar substitutes? by Teddy Amenabar and Katie Camero for WashingtonPost.com, 16 May 2023.
Here’s why bad news can make you feel physically sick by Christian Jarrett for ScienceFocus.com, 17 May 2023.
When you discover something bad has happened, it can trigger your body’s ‘fight or flight’ response. This is your body’s evolved response to coping with intense danger. At a neurobiological level, it’s governed by what’s known as the sympathetic nervous system, which sends commands from your spinal cord to your body’s major organs, including your heart and intestines, gearing you up to either fight or flee when faced with danger.
A key part of the fight or flight response is to shut down digestion so that blood flow and energy can be sent to your limb muscles instead.
The sympathetic nervous system is in constant opposition with the parasympathetic nervous system, which is more active when we’re relaxed. It sends its own messages to your body, including encouraging digestion. So anything you can do to boost your parasympathetic nervous system activity ought to help you overcome those feelings of sickness. This is easier said than done, but basic steps include deliberately slowing down your breathing.
I include this article because, as people living with T1D (actual T1D or care person), we are constantly faced with decisions, unexpected results, life struggles (like insurance, getting pharmacy supplies, etc.), illness (low BG or high BG or just regular non-D illness) … and all of the above can easily and quickly cause you to feel physically sick (or sicker than the actual illness). Maybe this little tip will come in handy when you are confronted with a stressor in your life.
Read more: Here’s why bad news can make you feel physically sick
Almonds could be incorporated into the diets of habitual snackers to improve diet quality without concerns about weight gain, according to the results of a year-long randomized controlled trial published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
As a nutrient-rich snack, almonds offer a healthier alternative to many foods, Rachel C. Brown, MSc, PhD, researcher, lecturer, and deputy head of the department of human nutrition at the University of Otago in New Zealand, and colleagues wrote. Additionally, previous research has indicated that regular almond consumption offers health benefits without weight gain.
The literature suggests that regularly eating nuts is not associated with adverse weight gain. People can add nuts to their regular diets without fear of weight gain and can improve diet quality,” Brown said. “This is important because fear of weight gain is one of the most common reasons for not consuming nuts.”
hmm so the iLet has glucagon and insulin? Or is this a traditional pump style?
Bad news makes me poop, that feels good sort of. Hence bad news makes me feel good. I am the exceptional rule. LOL
Haha! Rick! You are a HOOT!
Thanks for the updates, Joanne!
Thank you, Scott. Might see you in San Diego?