DRWF Podcast: The benefits of CGM devices for people living with diabetes
DRWF Podcast host Claire Levy talks to Jake Leach, the chief operating officer of continuous glucose monitor (CGM) manufacturer Dexcom, from their headquarters in San Diego, California in the US.
Since being introduced in recent years, CGM has become a key tool in achieving optimal diabetes management for people living with diabetes.
CGM manufacturers Dexcom recently celebrated 5 years since they launched their revolutionary real-time continuous glucose monitoring system.
The device meant people living with diabetes no longer had to scan, or use finger prick tests, to monitor their blood glucose levels.
The Dexcom range of CGM products, including Dexcom G7, Dexcom ONE and Dexcom G6, offer easy to use, connected and covered CGM options for people living with diabetes around the world – as access to this technology has become more widely available.
The company reports that expanded access to CGM globally of the Dexcom ONE system expanded reimbursed coverage to Dexcom CGM outside the US for more than 3.5 million people over the past 18 months.
And while CGM is more often recommended for people with type 1 diabetes, the latest devices can also be suitable for people with type 2 diabetes if they are taking insulin.
As recently reported, Dexcom published a study in Diabetes Therapy providing evidence to back up use of rtCGM devices for people with type 2 diabetes following previous research that suggested their technology was cost-effective for people with type 1 diabetes in 2020 in the UK.
Talking to DRWF, Jake Leach explained why this is such an important development: “It is critical to make the technology available to everyone who can benefit from it. What we have seen in clinical data is it does not matter what type of diabetes someone has, whether it is type 1 or type 2. The number one goal of managing diabetes is managing glucose. And so, you've got to really understand what glucose looks like, right? What's the value? How is it changing? How do different lifestyle choices and interactions affect it, what a meal looks like, what your exercise looks like, what you're doing that day, how your stress levels are. All those things impact glucose. CGM is the only tool that is going to give you the feedback you need to really be able to manage diabetes well.”
“Right now, CGM is covered for type 1 and type 2 diabetes. But in the type 2 arena, it's really around people who are taking insulin, so there are a lot of people there that will benefit and have access to CGM. But there is this other group of people who have diabetes that are not taking insulin that could really benefit from having that feedback and having the CGM readings.
“I think the key for us is to continue to work on showing the benefits that it provides to the user group and both the quality of life, but also ultimately a lot of the health care agencies are looking at how do we reduce overall health care costs.”
He added: “Insulin was discovered just over 100 years ago. CGM has only been developed just under 20 years ago, but it is only within the last six years that we have CGM technology that really is beneficial. The current technology basically replaces finger prick testing so that is a more recent change. In addition, the cost of CGM early on, when it was a much smaller market, it was expensive and now it is very approachable.”
Representatives from Dexcom team will be exhibiting at the upcoming DRWF United Through Diabetes event on Saturday, 16th September at Chesford Grant, Kenilworth where they will also be facilitating a CGM workshop.
On the role of working with charity organisations, Jake said: “Charities and patient organisations are incredibly important because they are an independent advocate for better care. Charities play an incredibly important role in advocating for access to the technology.”
If you would like to learn more about CGM please listen to the DRWF Podcast interview with Jake Leach, chief operating officer of CGM development and manufacturing at Dexcom here
Saturday, 16th September at Chesford Grange, Kenilworth, Warwickshire
This unique event provides an amazing opportunity to hear some of the leading CGM experts talk about the most recent advances in this technology. Don’t miss out on a place, register for our United Through Diabetes event today.
Professor Partha Kar, Consultant Endocrinologist and National Specialty Advisor for Diabetes and Dr Iain Cranston, Consultant Physician in Diabetes and Endocrinology both from Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust along with leading industry experts from Dexcom, Abbott, Insulet and Advanced Therapeutics (Dana-i) are just a few of the many key opinion leaders that will be exhibiting and holding CGM and Closed Loop workshops at this very special event.
Places limited: Don’t miss the opportunity to be part of the conversation – register now!
For more information about the event click here and registration visit here
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