2023-05-22 11:18:53
Measuring blood sugar several times a day with a spade and then injecting insulin – this is increasingly a thing of the past, especially for people with type 1 diabetes. And: Drugs from the field of intestinal hormones are on the rise in the therapy of type 2 diabetes. These were two of the major topics of this year’s Diabetes Congress of the German Diabetes Society, which took place in Berlin last week.
For people who treat their diabetes with insulin, the use of so-called continuous blood glucose meters (CGM) is becoming increasingly important. The systems determine the glucose in the subcutaneous fatty tissue and transmit the values to the smartphone or a special reading device around the clock. The patient is thus largely spared the pricking. According to experts, precise monitoring also enables better diabetes management.
“Automated insulin dosing (AID) also represents a new important option for improved diabetes therapy,” reports Dr. Sandra Schlueter, board member of the working group “Diabetes and Technology”. An AID system consists of a CGM device, an insulin pump and an algorithm that can partially automatically control the insulin dosage. Users with type 1 diabetes essentially only have to administer insulin themselves at mealtimes. A downer, according to Schlueter: “Although AID systems are suitable for most people with type 1 diabetes, reimbursement by health insurance companies is often still problematic.”
New treatment options also for type 2 diabetes
There are also new treatment options for people with type 2 diabetes that even make it possible to suppress diabetes. Studies show that obese people can often stop taking their diabetes medication after losing more than 10 percent of their initial weight – at least for a certain period of time. If this cannot be achieved through a change in diet and more exercise alone, surgical intervention has been an option. medical However, Matthias Blüher predicted: “This gap could be closed with the next generation of drugs for type 2 diabetes therapy, such as semaglutide and tirzepatide.”
In addition to lowering blood sugar, the new drugs sometimes cause a significant loss of weight and are therefore increasingly referred to as “weight loss drugs”. professor dr However, Baptist Gallwitz, press spokesman for the DDG, emphasizes: “We reject the use of these very effective drugs for lifestyle reasons. This leads to delivery problems, even for people with diabetes.”
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