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Apple Monitoring Blood Glucose

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Re: Apple Monitoring Blood Glucose

#121

Post by proyb2 »

JustSomeNobody wrote: post #77
proyb2 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think you could say for the general young generation. Google, Apple and Samsung have been vie for these feature in 2014. It is not uncommon to focus on health space when the technology is mature, we can't live and worry about our health. What is the point if you have the greatest smartphone watch and still lead unhealthy lifestyle?

Generally speaking, if you're leading an unhealthy lifestyle, buying a new gadget will not change that. I'm sure there's plenty of anecdata to counter this, though.

I disagree, most people tend to unknowing overwork or having excessive intake. There are situations when someone tried to add artificial sweetness, the gadget are there to inform you in time rather than months.

Hostpitals has been participating in health research because they want to make these accessible for you 24 hours.

Re: Apple Monitoring Blood Glucose

#122

Post by manmal »

xxs wrote: post #84
manmal wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just consider Apple as yet another lab of optics experts, but with 100x the funding, 10y of material science advancements, and years instead of months of dedicated effort. It's not that hard to believe that this team could finally succeed.

"Big Pharma" has been trying that for decades. There are rather big companies involved. Find any reference about the "100x funding".

Apple has a 250bn cash pile, a factor of 10 to 100 is not unrealistic.

Re: Apple Monitoring Blood Glucose

#123

Post by pimeys »

ng12 wrote: post #110
acoster wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My partner is type 1 diabetic, and CGMs were a game changer for her (they started rolling out in Switzerland last year). She's been using the FreeStyle Libre ( https://www.freestylelibre.co.uk/libre/ ), which uses NFC and on select markets has an Android app available, but here we still have to use the handheld reader.

> they started rolling out in Switzerland last year Wow, do you know why this is? The Dexcom G4 is already 5 years old and is absolutely a life-saving system.

That's because there are so few of us Type 1 diabetics and not enough political pressure to get the new stuff faster. There are some activist doctors and nurses that help in Germany, but we also got the G4 for free only on last November.

The insurance companies are conservative and see the systems as very expensive investments and the technology is something scary in a country which is still very suspicious about Internet and computers in general.

Re: Apple Monitoring Blood Glucose

#124

Post by oktavist »

While a lot of comments revolve around the efficacy of accurately monitoring for T1/2 diabetes and the past noninvasive trials and tribulations thereof, consider that the market for such a product is very limited by Apple's measure (10's of millions for an addressable market, versus billions for phones/watches). It seems much more interesting if they were chasing a general metabolic health or pre-diabetic application where the annoyance and lethargy of the FDA/medical community can be skipped entirely.

Re: Apple Monitoring Blood Glucose

#125

Post by wapz »

quickben wrote: post #113
wapz wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do not have an insulin pump and I'm presuming you don't with my response. The pumps I have seen make noise when they are pumping and also have an alarm (I'm not sure if that's from the pump or the reader) if your levels are on either extreme. I'm guessing malfunctioning code would only execute once by pumping too much or not pumping at all and the user would figure it out very quickly.

I'd argue the users can't identify anything if they are rendered unconscious: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetic_coma You definitely don't want anything buggy with medical devices.

I agree about the importance of medical devices but I don't think diabetic coma happens as easily as you think for most (if they are on one of those full-systems). From what I've seen from insulin pumps/systems:

1. There is a max rate that it can pump

2. There are alarms that go off if the numbers are above or below your settings (I believe there are also max and mins for those so you can't accidentally set it to a 'fatal' number)

3. The systems seemed 'independent.' The reader did not take for granted that the pump was pumping, but rather continually monitored glucose levels and would still set off an alarm if the numbers weren't within the bounds.

Re: Apple Monitoring Blood Glucose

#126

Post by acoster »

ng12 wrote: post #110
acoster wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My partner is type 1 diabetic, and CGMs were a game changer for her (they started rolling out in Switzerland last year). She's been using the FreeStyle Libre ( https://www.freestylelibre.co.uk/libre/ ), which uses NFC and on select markets has an Android app available, but here we still have to use the handheld reader.

> they started rolling out in Switzerland last year Wow, do you know why this is? The Dexcom G4 is already 5 years old and is absolutely a life-saving system.

There were also some privacy/bureaucratic slow downs (my girlfriend had to sign a monster of T&C regarding data sharing with her doctor).

Re: Apple Monitoring Blood Glucose

#127

Post by Traubenfuchs »

pimeys wrote: post #62
Traubenfuchs wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is quite annoying when you are getting intimate though.

The libre or the pump? I usually just unplug the pump for sex and take some extra insulin when I plug it back. Small price to pay for the luxury of steady sugars.

The libre. I am afraid to tightly grab that arm and it's distracting when caressing that arm so I just keep my hands away from it which creates this weird spot I am afraid to touch...

Re: Apple Monitoring Blood Glucose

#128

Post by cjrp »

ng12 wrote: post #109
richie5um wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately I can't get this in the UK. I asked, but they only give out to kids or people who poorly manage their T1. :(

As an American this is the single biggest fear I have about a nationalized healthcare system. I've been using the Dexcom CGM for 4 years and never had to pay more than a standard co-pay. It seems to me systems like the NHS are set up to serve the majority and people people with (relatively) rare diseases get screwed.

You can get still get private coverage in the UK (e.g. Bupa), the NHS is there for people who don't want that.

Re: Apple Monitoring Blood Glucose

#129

Post by DanBC »

ng12 wrote: post #109
richie5um wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately I can't get this in the UK. I asked, but they only give out to kids or people who poorly manage their T1. :(

As an American this is the single biggest fear I have about a nationalized healthcare system. I've been using the Dexcom CGM for 4 years and never had to pay more than a standard co-pay. It seems to me systems like the NHS are set up to serve the majority and people people with (relatively) rare diseases get screwed.

When parent says "I can't get this" they mean {I can't get this free, but I could buy it and I wouldn't have to pay the sales tax}.

In England there are some weirdness with treatment for people with diabetes.

If you use insulin of medication to manage your diabetes you're entitled to free prescriptions. This is free from the time you're diagnosed to your death, and for all medications not just insulin. (But not free dental or optician care)

Prescriptions are low cost in England. Currently they cost:

http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcosts/Pages/Prescriptionc...

>> The current prescription charge is £8.60 per item (£17.20 per pair of elastic hosiery). A three monthly PPC is £29.10 and will save you money if you need more than three prescribed items in three months. A 12-month certificate is £104.00 and will save you money if you need more than 12 prescribed items in a year.

(I think this is right, but it might have changed) I feel that it's an injustice that glucose monitors and test strips and these new devices are not covered by this medical exemption certificate, and that people with diabetes need to pay for them, even if they don't have to pay the 20% VAT.

England has an independent organisation called NICE that decides on best current practice treatment (with an eye to cost effectiveness). Clinical Commissioning Groups (the local organisations that commission NHS services) need to pay regard to NICE guidance. Here's their standard for type one diabetes: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng17

Here's their list for blood glucose management: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng17/chapter/1-Recommendati...

Re: Apple Monitoring Blood Glucose

#130

Post by kgin »

intoverflow2 wrote: post #78
aedron wrote: post #59

Apple's recent obsession with health monitoring is weird from a branding standpoint. Losing appeal with young people is the nightmare of any technology company, becoming known as that gadget for geriatrics is another level of dejection. I read that this focus is particularly driven by Tim Cook's fascination with the space. It sort of confirms my idea of him as not a very image conscious CEO, especially in contrast wi…

If Apple doesn't make this someone else will. If Apple doesn't make decent laptops and desktops then who else can? This is what bothers be about Tim Cooks priorities in health and celebrities next to his apathy towards computers. (I don't consider the iPad a computer I consider it a device)

The business problem is that the world has increasing apathy towards computers.

“When we were an agrarian nation, all cars were trucks, because that’s what you needed on the farm,” Jobs said at [the] D8 conference in 2010. “But as vehicles started to be used in the urban centers, cars got more popular. Innovations like automatic transmission and power steering and things that you didn’t care about in a truck as much started to become paramount in cars. … PCs are going to be like trucks. They’re still going to be around, they’re still going to have a lot of value, but they’re going to be used by one out of X people.”

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