Featured Writers

Guest Post by David Kliff, Editor, Diabetic Investor

Whether the toy makers realize it or not, the key to getting their toys played with is to make the toy as easy to use as possible. This ease of use does not just mean things like easy insertion of a sensor, like Dexcom has done with the G6 or Abbott has done with the Libre. It goes beyond not having to calibrate either of these sensors. When it comes to increasing the use of insulin, it means making dosing insulin as “stupid” as possible; take all the decisions out of the hands of the patient.

By Sheri R. Colberg, PhD, FACSM

If you’re like a lot of other people, you may get bored doing the same physical activities day after day. More than half of people who start exercise training programs drop out in the first six months. So, what you do to keep your workouts fresh sometimes matters more for getting the most out of training and staying with it. For these reasons (and more), you may want to consider doing cross-training.

By Sheri R. Colberg, PhD, FACSMJ
It’s possible to gain weight from treating too many bouts of hypoglycemia. I addressed this topic over a decade ago, but it remains relevant and worth revisiting, along with addressing some new insights on weight gain in general with insulin use.

Guest Post by David Kliff, Editor, Diabetic Investor

The so-called “high” cost of insulin continues to get lots of attention. But as I’ve noted before, little perspective has been given to this debate and far too many facts are missing. Yes, I know facts are pesky things, but they are facts nonetheless. Allow me for a moment to provide some examples.

By Sheri R. Colberg, PhD, FACSM

How active are you? Unless you’re exercising more than several hours a day already, you probably have room to add more in for additional health benefits. Exercise is about the best medicine that there is for so many health conditions, including diabetes. Being active helps manage emotional stress and stave off depression—far better than antidepressant medications and with no bad side effects. It naturally bestows your body with antioxidant effect, making you less likely to develop most types of cancer—or even the common cold.

By A. Paul Chous, MA, OD, FAAO, CDE

The FDA just gave first approval to an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm for the detection of diabetic retinopathy in the offices of non-ophthalmic health care practitioners. Dubbed the IDx-DR (IDx, LLC, Coralville, Iowa), and paired with a Topcon NW400 non-mydriatic retinal camera, captured images are sent to a cloud-based server that utilizes the IDx-DR software and a ‘deep learning’ algorithm to detect retinal findings consistent with diabetic retinopathy based on autonomous comparison with a large dataset of representative fundus images.

Guest Post by David Kliff, Editor, Diabetic Investor
Senseonics has taken their Eversense implantable CGM before an FDA panel, and Bigfoot has announced they have closed their series B $55 million financing round. The FDA has approved Dexcom’s G6 system, pushing shares in the company higher in early trading. And while they didn’t announce anything recently, our friends at Tandem are feeling the love as shares continue to surge higher in anticipation of their new system, which has low glucose suspend.

By Sheri R. Colberg, PhD
You may have started the new year out with the best of intentions to increase your fitness and better manage your diabetes by exercising regularly. If you have diabetes or are at risk for developing the disease, deciding to commit to fitness could be a real lifesaver. That’s why it’s more important than ever that you make sure this decision sticks. Here are some motivational tips for getting started being more active.

By Sheri R. Colberg, PhD

If you suffer from diabetes, you already know that staying fit greatly benefits your health. Yet, many of the complications caused by diabetes can make it difficult to get the exercise you need; in fact, they can make a normal exercise routine difficult or even dangerous. For example, peripheral neuropathy (numbness in the feet caused by nerve damage) may affect your balance and put you at risk for a fall, or could lead to slow-healing ulcers that keep you inactive. On top of that, diabetes patients may have heart disease symptoms or vision problems that make getting up and going for a walk more risky than helpful.

Guest Post by David Kliff, Editor, Diabetic Investor

As I left Vienna after attending the 11th International Conference on Advanced Technologies & Treatments for Diabetes, my thoughts turned to what does this all mean, what was the most significant takeaway? By far the most significant development coming out of ATTD is the long quest to have a REAL closed-loop insulin delivery system is no longer a pipe dream. This is going to happen and for once I believe it will happen in my lifetime. It is difficult to overstate the power of the data I witnessed. The reality here is that some very smart people have come a very long way.