Diabetes dichotomy

Make no mistake, innovation in diabetes care is critical. Diabetes never takes a break. People with diabetes manage their condition on their own, 365 days a year – making multiple therapy decisions daily with limited access to healthcare professionals’ advice and intervention.

Even simple everyday events and actions, such as exercising or driving, cannot be done without accounting for its impact on glucose levels.

And the difficulties associated with diabetes management can be dire. One of the most severe complications, particularly for people on insulin therapy, is hypoglycaemia.

Such severe low glucose episodes, or ‘hypos’, could lead to serious complications if untreated, including loss of consciousness, seizure, brain damage, or even death.

It’s no wonder that one in seven people live in fear of hypos, as these can be upsetting experiences for individuals with diabetes and their loved ones.

Innovation in the diabetes field is key to overcome the challenges faced by people with the condition on a daily basis.

Innovation and technology have always been at the heart of diabetes care.

This year marks 25 years since continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) became commercially available, making it easier for people with diabetes to manage their condition by providing glucose levels in real time.

In the words of diabetes advocate Hanna Boëthius in a recent event at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes: “wearing a CGM is like watching the whole movie, while finger pricks are like still photographs”.

Having glucose data available 24/7 enables people with diabetes to better understand their condition so they can take the necessary steps to stay in range.

However, despite the extensive array of diabetes technology available today, unlocking the power of innovation is vital to create a lasting impact on the life of people with diabetes.

Even with CGM, some people with type 1 diabetes still struggle with glycaemic control and quite frequently experience severe hypoglycaemia.

In other cases, people using CGM may be overwhelmed by the amount of data it provides and can struggle to use it to improve the outcomes.

Because the management of multiple devices can be exhausting, with live data constantly available, it can become difficult for people with diabetes to stop worrying about their glucose levels even when executing the most trivial daily actions.

Nocturnal hypoglycaemia in particular also adds significantly to the diabetes burden.

Recurrent episodes of low glucose during the night can be a challenge for people living with diabetes and their loved ones, and a severe nocturnal hypo can prove fatal.

In view of these significant unmet needs in everyday diabetes management, there is a remaining gap that technology can fill to improve the well-being of people with diabetes and provide clear and actionable insights.

That’s where AI comes in.

Making sense out of the constant flow of data recorded by CGM can be overwhelming for many people with diabetes but it’s a seamless task for AI.

Through machine learning, a branch of artificial intelligence focused on learning patterns from data, algorithms can be trained to forecast glucose levels.

That’s the technology behind our Accu-Chek SmartGuide CGM solution, which predicts glucose levels across different time frames to help adults with type 1 and 2 diabetes on flexible insulin therapy to change from a reactive glucose management strategy to a proactive one.

This is a groundbreaking milestone in diabetes management, because it, for example, enables the detection of potential hypoglycaemic episodes before they can occur.

By providing glucose predictions, clinical trial evidence suggests that AI-enabled CGM can reduce diabetes distress and fear of hypoglycaemia.

With the power of prediction, people with diabetes can feel empowered to go through their day with increased confidence and a reduced burden.

With an AI-enabled predictive CGM solution, people with diabetes are now also able to know the risk of having a hypoglycaemic event during the night, reducing time spent in nocturnal hypoglycaemia by 37% and giving them and their loved ones valuable peace of mind.

In addition, by predicting nighttime hypoglycaemia ahead of time, threshold alarms and associated alarm fatigue can be reduced, which in turn could lead to reduced distress and improved quality of life while contributing to better glycaemic control.

With our solutions, we aim to do now what patients need next and we continue to drive innovation by truly understanding and addressing the unmet needs of people with diabetes, to create a lasting impact in the way diabetes is managed.

By giving people with diabetes better tools to stay in their therapeutic target range and helping to reduce the daily burden of diabetes, modern technology can play a huge role in improving their lives.

Sérgio Moreiras is International Business Leader at Roche. Go to roche.com