Why is everyone wearing glucose monitors?

[Anonymous]

My dad is type 1 and we struggled to get him to use his. It took me and my mom forever to get him on board. He has always been very embarrassed by his condition but the libre patches are very small. It’s very interesting technology from an electro-chemical sensor perspective, if you are a dork like me and find that sort of thing interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s just another example of pharma marketing run amok. The company that makes them has found insurance will pay so they’re pushing them hard, even if borderline cases. It’s as simple as that.

Medical devices and pharma are totally different industries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s just another example of pharma marketing run amok. The company that makes them has found insurance will pay so they’re pushing them hard, even if borderline cases. It’s as simple as that.

Medical devices and pharma are totally different industries.

I wouldn’t say that. Numerous drugs have application specific delivery devices, for example. They all operate very similarly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:CGMs get a lot of buzz on podcasts about longevity, fasting for health, nutrition and weight, etc. I would love to try one -- seems like it would yield really useful data about how one's body responds to certain foods. For example, I recently heard someone using a CGM discuss how surprised she was that an orange spiked her blood sugar as much as a candy bar. That isn't really intuitive, imo.

You may be seeing more of them because there's a Silicon Valley startup (Levels) that recently made them more affordable and accessible for those without the medical conditions to get a prescription and insurance coverage.

In Canada, where no prescription is required and the devices are cheaper, they've been trending for a while.

Sugar is sugar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Genuinely curious, why would someone feel the need to hide this? And why do you guys feel like they should? Like who cares? The poster that said it was weird, why is it weird?

Some people try to avoid advertising if it can be avoided. I suppose it's personal preference. I (T1) like keeping anything medical personal. Yes, I do try to avoid showing it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s just another example of pharma marketing run amok. The company that makes them has found insurance will pay so they’re pushing them hard, even if borderline cases. It’s as simple as that.

Medical devices and pharma are totally different industries.

I wouldn’t say that. Numerous drugs have application specific delivery devices, for example. They all operate very similarly.

Healthcare lawyer here. They do not operate similarly at all. HTH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:CGMs get a lot of buzz on podcasts about longevity, fasting for health, nutrition and weight, etc. I would love to try one -- seems like it would yield really useful data about how one's body responds to certain foods. For example, I recently heard someone using a CGM discuss how surprised she was that an orange spiked her blood sugar as much as a candy bar. That isn't really intuitive, imo.

You may be seeing more of them because there's a Silicon Valley startup (Levels) that recently made them more affordable and accessible for those without the medical conditions to get a prescription and insurance coverage.

In Canada, where no prescription is required and the devices are cheaper, they've been trending for a while.

The thing is, some foods spike the blood sugar and then it goes back down. That's fine. Totally fine.

The only issue is when your blood sugar is high (above 200) for hours and hours. And endocrinologists don't really care about that either if it comes down eventually. You're diabetic at that point but not medically treatable. So they don't want to see you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:CGMs get a lot of buzz on podcasts about longevity, fasting for health, nutrition and weight, etc. I would love to try one -- seems like it would yield really useful data about how one's body responds to certain foods. For example, I recently heard someone using a CGM discuss how surprised she was that an orange spiked her blood sugar as much as a candy bar. That isn't really intuitive, imo.

You may be seeing more of them because there's a Silicon Valley startup (Levels) that recently made them more affordable and accessible for those without the medical conditions to get a prescription and insurance coverage.

In Canada, where no prescription is required and the devices are cheaper, they've been trending for a while.

The Freestyle CGMs are cheaper and are being successfully marketed to the non-diabetic market. The Dexcom is still expensive. And unless you're actually diabetic, you don't need one. (This is where you should be very thankful. And humble.)

[Anonymous]

We thicc

[Anonymous]

Half the country is either diabetic or about to become one so these things (CGM) are great, original poster is frankly most likely a part of the problem. Her concern is about appearances, lol.

https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/data/statistics-report/index.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Half the country is either diabetic or about to become one so these things (CGM) are great, original poster is frankly most likely a part of the problem. Her concern is about appearances, lol.

https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/data/statistics-report/index.html

There are some people with T2 who are motivated to take control of their health and will use a CGM to manage their diabetes or go into remission. But the vast majority of current and future T2s aren't and won't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CGMs get a lot of buzz on podcasts about longevity, fasting for health, nutrition and weight, etc. I would love to try one -- seems like it would yield really useful data about how one's body responds to certain foods. For example, I recently heard someone using a CGM discuss how surprised she was that an orange spiked her blood sugar as much as a candy bar. That isn't really intuitive, imo.

You may be seeing more of them because there's a Silicon Valley startup (Levels) that recently made them more affordable and accessible for those without the medical conditions to get a prescription and insurance coverage.

In Canada, where no prescription is required and the devices are cheaper, they've been trending for a while.

The thing is, some foods spike the blood sugar and then it goes back down. That's fine. Totally fine.

The only issue is when your blood sugar is high (above 200) for hours and hours. And endocrinologists don't really care about that either if it comes down eventually. You're diabetic at that point but not medically treatable. So they don't want to see you.

So does getting a monitor help? I wonder if getting a patch to monitor how food impacts levels could be helpful for my:
DD with PCOS
DH with pre-diabetes
MIL with diabetes

[Anonymous]

I agree that it’s a fad for some people.

I have seen them on quite a few friends I know who are super into fitness and definitely not diabetics. They say it is part of their wellness routine. Doesn’t bother me at all…good for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's the latest fad in body hacking. When people see a spike, they don't realize that the body easily handles it and instead change their diet to avoid spikes.

People who have more money than sense and not enough real problems.

Doctor. This. HgbA1C is a much better measure unless you have Type 1 and actually need hour to hour control and readings for dosing. But since the insulin itself is long acting now, there’s really little utility in wearing a monitor for your garden variety diabetic.

People get very wrapped up in this as another health fad / exhibitionist thing yet it’s normal to have some higher readings after eating etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s just another example of pharma marketing run amok. The company that makes them has found insurance will pay so they’re pushing them hard, even if borderline cases. It’s as simple as that.

Medical devices and pharma are totally different industries.

I wouldn’t say that. Numerous drugs have application specific delivery devices, for example. They all operate very similarly.

The approval requirements for drugs vs devices is actually quite different.