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The New OneTouch Ping!

New from J&J’s Animas/OneTouch is the OneTouch Ping Glucose Management System. This represents a positive step in pump convenience and (dare we say) “cool” factor. The new, exciting element is that the OneTouch Ping pump is wirelessly linked to the OneTouch Ping glucose meter via a remote control. This means that after you test your blood sugar with the meter, you can send insulin dosage information wirelessly to the pump without ever having to touch the pump – very similar to the OmniPod System though the pump is traditional rather than disposable. Equally impressive, blood glucose and pump data can be downloaded either from the pump or the meter to a Mac or a PC – big plus for Apple fans! Finally, being able to use our Mac to analyze our numbers – thank you! Like the 2020, the pump is waterproof and has the hip color screen - the system will eventually be available in a range of colors. Come August, you can get a Ping system, either an upgrade at reasonable (still undisclosed) cost or as a brand new system. See www.animascorp.com for more details.

The Meter Monitor

Patients who would prefer a larger display and larger buttons on their blood glucose meter may want to give the FreeStyle Freedom Lite a try. This meter from Abbott was released in the US in mid-April and shown at ADA. It has similar features to the other meters in the FreeStyle family: no coding, alternate site testing, very small blood sample required, five second testing, and uses FreeStyle test strips.

The OneTouch UltraLink is a recently launched meter from LifeScan that transmits wirelessly to the Medtronic Paradigm insulin pump and CGM and Guardian CGM. One idea driving this development was the need to minimize errors in entering blood glucose data, which in turn minimizes insulin bolus dosing errors. The meter was approved for use in the US in April, and the first units were shipped at no cost to “eligible customers” over the last couple of months. As a bonus Medtronic customers were offered another free LifeScan meter (UltraMini, Ultra 2, or UltraSmart). We look forward to improvements suggested by patients, such as further miniaturization, a backlight, and larger screen readings on the next generation UltraLink Outside the US. The previously released Bayer Contour Link is the meter available that also communicates wirelessly with the Medtronic Paradigm and Guardian.

Speaking of Bayer, the new Bayer Contour meter, anticipated later this summer, will allow patients to choose ‘basic’ or ‘advanced’ levels, as they prefer. User-settable features are great in our view as they enable more “individualization of therapy,” a key ADA meeting theme. The advanced setting now enables users to view 30-day averages in addition to 7- and 14-day averages. Too, users can set adjustable timers to alert them when it's time to test. Unlike the basic setting, the advanced setting includes pre- and post-meal markers as well as programmable pre- and post-meal reminders. Following a stylish trend started last year with meters and pumps, the new Contour will come in dark grey, purple, and green, in addition to the traditional blue color.

Speaking of Bayer, the new Bayer Contour meter, anticipated later this summer, will allow patients to choose ‘basic’ or ‘advanced’ levels, as they prefer. The advanced setting now enables users to view 30-day averages in addition to 7- and 14-day averages. Users can set adjustable timers to alert them when it's time to test. Unlike the basic setting, the advanced setting includes pre- and post-meal markers as well as programmable pre- and post-meal reminders. Following a stylish trend started last year with meters and pumps, the new Contour will come in dark grey, purple, and green, in addition to the traditional blue color. It’s great that the company is thinking in the shoes of patients to create a medical device that need not look like one.

Insulin for Life

diaTribe got the opportunity to learn a lot about this program by spending time speaking to International Diabetes Federation (IDF) leaders during this year’s ADA meeting.

How often do we take for granted the availability of life-saving insulin? People in numerous countries around the world cannot access insulin – let alone afford it! Insulin For Life is an amazing non-profit organization dedicated to collecting and distributing unopened and in-date insulin and test strips (at least five months to expiry) that would otherwise be discarded. The organization sends these supplies abroad in response to emergencies but also as part of an ongoing effort to create a sustained base of recognized organizations with controlled monitoring systems. Learn more at http://insulinforlife.org.

Life for a Child

Life for a Child is a sister program to Insulin for Life. It was established in 2001 as a sustainable sponsorship program where people can help children in developing countries get the supplies, support, and education needed to survive with diabetes. The program supports over 1,000 children in 17 countries by sponsoring needy children in diabetes centers, which in turn provide clinical and financial feedback to the organization. The program provides supplies for insulin injections, blood glucose monitoring, A1c testing, technical support for health care professionals, and diabetes education. The more donations that are received, the more children with diabetes that will receive life-saving insulin. Donate and find out more here. We suggest you talk to local diabetes camps and programs that receive donated supplies and recommend sending the leftovers to the US shipping centers for these programs!

The Changing Diabetes Bus is back along with the Village!

The Changing Diabetes Bus, sponsored by Novo Nordisk, was set up on Pier 39 during the ADA meeting in June in San Francisco. It arrived from a tour in India and is next headed back to Europe. We were thrilled to see the community getting involved with more than 6,000 visitors and over 800 health screenings performed over three days. Local area residents with diabetes stopped by and talked about living with diabetes – having a mother with type 1, a best friend with type 2, or a sister with gestational diabetes – and about how exciting it was for the Bus to be in such a popular location in the community. Ms. Catherine Dodd, the Deputy Chief of Health and Human Services from the Mayor of San Francisco’s office, also stopped by to talk about the local commitment to fight diabetes. She noted that Mayor Gavin Newsom has received pledges from several schools for kids to have a “soda-free summer.” The mayor’s office is also implementing a fee on soda sales at the end of the summer. Go Team Newsom!

Drew Lachey (recently of Dancing With the Stars and previously with the group, 98 Degrees) was on site to announce the winners of the Dancin’ to Change Diabetes contest and talk about diabetes affecting his life. Drew said hauling the Bus to Capitol Hill, parking it on the Mall, and bringing every single member of Congress through the Bus for education and a health screening would have the largest possible impact on our country.

The Online Bolus Calculator

Integrated Diabetes Services has put together a mealtime insulin-dosing calculator. This is a great tool to help patients learn how to “optimize” the amount of insulin taken for meals, which can be pretty tough. The idea is that you can download the calculator as a spreadsheet, insert your target blood glucose levels, sensitivity factors, carb-to-insulin ratio, and/or exercise factor, and have a customized spreadsheet. This is a great opportunity to work with your diabetes educator to establish or refine what these levels should be! They recommend printing off the chart, and we think this will be particularly helpful for newly-diagnosed patients. For patients with a bit more experience with carb-counting, we think the calculator at the top of the chart will be the most useful component – this is a very user-friendly insulin-on-board calculator with a simple “this is how much you should dose” box. We hope someone takes the time to write the code for the calculator into a small application for computer desktops, Blackberrys, iPhones, and other PDA devices, for people with diabetes living their lives on the go!