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FDA clears first over-the-counter continuous glucose monitor

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Re: FDA clears first over-the-counter continuous glucose monitor

#101

Post by sdo72 »

I don't know why modern days we get so many problems wrong.

A -> B, then B -> A => incorrect

In a fire, we see firefighters, that doesn't mean firefighters cause fire. In diabetic patients, we see high glucose level. That doesn't mean eating high GI food causes someone to have diabetes.

If we look at the Blue Zone, many people eat mostly carb. So carb/high GI food definitely doesn't cause diabetes.

Devices like this will make other people fearful of high glucose and think they're getting diabetes. People without the disease shouldn't focus on monitoring the glucose level, focus on eating healthy instead. And of course eating healthy is another complex topic.

Re: FDA clears first over-the-counter continuous glucose monitor

#102

Post by znpy »

philsnow wrote: post #30

I dove into CGMs a little bit about a year ago, mostly just for fun. Yes, I paid money to some online prescription mill for CGMs (Abbott Freestyle Libre 3, IIRC), and then put one in my arm (the applicator is a short syringe section that has the monitor tube threaded into it, so the tube stays in your arm and your skin under the monitor remains broken) for a couple weeks. Just to see how various foods would affect my…

What's the lifetime of a single device? Are you supposed to remove it before a shower and reapply it later?

Re: FDA clears first over-the-counter continuous glucose monitor

#103

Post by coldcode »

anonfornoreason wrote: post #56

I would recommend anyone to experiment with this. I did, and found out I was more glucose sensitive than I expected. This led me to get more broad labs done, with which I was able to find additional treatable issues that are likely the cause. If I hadn't done this, I would have found out via symptoms years later, after irreversible damage had already been done. You are your only medical advocate, no one else is going…

I found out I was barely in the diabetic range a couple of months ago; hopefully, with diet changes and Metformin, I will see my A1C at a better number in a month or so. Otherwise, I would like to try a CGM to see what I am missing.

Re: FDA clears first over-the-counter continuous glucose monitor

#104

Post by pie420 »

TaylorAlexander wrote: post #74
smt88 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the needle in the CGM bothers you, don't let it. It's a quick, painless jab with a tiny needle at the beginning and then the needle comes out. The part that stays in your body is just a flexible filament made of plastic. I did this experiment as well, and the main thing it did was completely stop me from snacking. My habits got better because I could see how my BG could never return to baseline if I allowed myself…

My understanding is that for healthy individuals, spiking blood glucose levels is not a problem. Did you get in to any of the research on that? Glucose is a problem for diabetics because they can’t regulate it, but healthy people can. At least this is loosely what I have heard, somewhat third hand. Any information is appreciated.

Not a doctor, but from what I have seen, there is a healthy amount of spiking from eating normal foods, but our modern diets are so sugar and carb heavy that the glucose spikes are way outside the range that our bodies evolved to handle. Hunter gatherers would maybe eat some berries here (much smaller and less sweet than modern berries) and there. The modern human eating pizza, tons of bread, ice cream, soda, etc. creates such massive glucose spikes that they are unhealthy and unsustainable for the pancreas to handle for 60+ years.

Again, not a doctor and not sure if this is accurate, but this is my very limited understanding

Re: FDA clears first over-the-counter continuous glucose monitor

#105

Post by Aurornis »

Aaronstotle wrote: post #79
anonfornoreason wrote: post #56

I would recommend anyone to experiment with this. I did, and found out I was more glucose sensitive than I expected. This led me to get more broad labs done, with which I was able to find additional treatable issues that are likely the cause. If I hadn't done this, I would have found out via symptoms years later, after irreversible damage had already been done. You are your only medical advocate, no one else is going…

This is why it made me upset to see this Doctor on TikTok telling people unless you have Diabetes, you don't need a glucose monitor and making fun of people who had one. Where is the harm in getting data on how your own body deals with glucose?

> Where is the harm in getting data on how your own body deals with glucose?

We have a relatively good indicator of long-term glucose levels: HbA1c blood testing. It's included in a lot of physicals now because it's relatively cheap. It's not 100% sensitive to every possible condition, but it's quite good as a screening mechanism for the general population.

CGMs will often give an "estimated HbA1c" value based on statistics from the collected data.

The challenge with CGMs is that it can he harder to know what's "normal" or not than you might think. There are a lot of stories of people becoming unnecessarily worried about occasional spikes or dips that are virtually inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.

Re: FDA clears first over-the-counter continuous glucose monitor

#106

Post by sdo72 »

anonfornoreason wrote: post #56

I would recommend anyone to experiment with this. I did, and found out I was more glucose sensitive than I expected. This led me to get more broad labs done, with which I was able to find additional treatable issues that are likely the cause. If I hadn't done this, I would have found out via symptoms years later, after irreversible damage had already been done. You are your only medical advocate, no one else is going…

I think I would recommend the opposite unless you are diabetic or pre-diabetic. Using this may make people think eating high GI food causes diabetes.

Re: FDA clears first over-the-counter continuous glucose monitor

#107

Post by eurleif »

queuebert wrote: post #84
Aaronstotle wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why it made me upset to see this Doctor on TikTok telling people unless you have Diabetes, you don't need a glucose monitor and making fun of people who had one. Where is the harm in getting data on how your own body deals with glucose?

False positives in medicine can cause unnecessary interventions that carry their own risks. Believe it or not, there is an optimum level of ignorance for maximum health.

If having more information leads to worse outcomes, that's fundamentally a problem with how you're responding to the information, not with having the information.

Re: FDA clears first over-the-counter continuous glucose monitor

#108

Post by RecycledEle »

anonfornoreason wrote: post #56

I would recommend anyone to experiment with this. I did, and found out I was more glucose sensitive than I expected. This led me to get more broad labs done, with which I was able to find additional treatable issues that are likely the cause. If I hadn't done this, I would have found out via symptoms years later, after irreversible damage had already been done. You are your only medical advocate, no one else is going…

I assume you mean you experimented with another CGM, since this one is not on the market yet.

Re: FDA clears first over-the-counter continuous glucose monitor

#109

Post by contravariant »

reaperman wrote: post #36
rkagerer wrote: post #12

When your smartphone becomes a critical health device to support/treat a condition I wonder how that will impact case law around things like police confiscation.

Sadly it will probably receive very little consideration.

There's a reason most regulations are written in blood.

Re: FDA clears first over-the-counter continuous glucose monitor

#110

Post by galago »

haswell wrote: post #45
philsnow wrote: post #30

I dove into CGMs a little bit about a year ago, mostly just for fun. Yes, I paid money to some online prescription mill for CGMs (Abbott Freestyle Libre 3, IIRC), and then put one in my arm (the applicator is a short syringe section that has the monitor tube threaded into it, so the tube stays in your arm and your skin under the monitor remains broken) for a couple weeks. Just to see how various foods would affect my…

Aside from the fun, how did it go? Find anything surprising or insightful in the process? It sounds like an experiment I’d like to do for the purpose of optimizing my daily habits and establishing a better mental model for how my eating habits impact me throughout the day. But I really dislike needles.

Freestyle Libre 3 only has a plastic filament and the plastic applicator pushes it in without pain. Very different than metal lancets (stick test). I can't feel it at all when its in the back of my arm. If I were worried about sweating too much and it not sticking I would get one of the third party over-patches that create a lager adhesive area. I might do that in the Summer.
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