In the news from the American Diabetes Association’s 82nd Annual Scientific Sessions in New Orleans this week: The newest iteration of Abbott’s continuous glucose monitor, the FreeStyle Libre 3, offers real-time glucose monitoring with a smaller profile and higher accuracy than its predecessors. A review of studies finds preliminary evidence that people with diabetes may be up to four times more likely to suffer from long COVID-19. Lastly, the diabetes medication tirzepatide could be a game-changer—and a big moneymaker for drugmaker Eli Lilly—as a weight loss drug. Read on for the Week in Review, ADA annual meeting edition.
FreeStyle Libre 3 scores highest accuracy among continuous glucose monitors
Small, slim, and accurate, Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre 3 continuous glucose monitor (CGM) can measure glucose levels for up to two weeks with greater accuracy than any other monitor, according to clinical results presented on June 5.
The FreeStyle Libre 3 system landed FDA approval last month in the form of a breakthrough device designation.
The company is calling the FreeStyle Libre 3 “the most accurate 14-day continuous glucose monitor” available.
A multi-center study evaluated the accuracy of the FreeStyle Libre 3 system in people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, ages 4 or older, who were on insulin therapy. The system achieved a 7.9% overall mean absolute relative difference, or MARD, a measure of the variation between the sensor’s reading and blood sugar levels confirmed with a fingerstick. It is the first monitor to score under 8% MARD, which is considered the standard way to evaluate a continuous glucose monitor’s accuracy.
By age group, MARD values were 7.6% for adults 18 and up, 8.7% for children ages 6 to 17, and 10.1% for children ages 4 to 5.
The FreeStyle Libre 3 system allows users the same benefits of the FreeStyle Libre 2, including 14-day accuracy and optional glucose alarms, but with new or upgraded features: For example, it’s smaller and thinner—about the thickness of two stacked pennies versus two stacked quarters. Also new, users can view their glucose reading in real time sent directly to a smartphone app.
Abbott’s original FreeStyle Libre system was approved by the FDA in 2017. It was the first glucose monitoring system not requiring a fingerstick blood draw. (CGM systems read glucose levels through a sensor worn on the upper arm.)
Diabetes may up the risk of long COVID-19
It’s been shown that people with diabetes are more at risk of developing a severe infection of COVID-19 compared to people without diabetes. Now new research suggests that diabetes is a potential risk factor for developing long COVID—in fact, people with diabetes might be up to four times more likely to develop this syndrome, according to findings presented June 5.
Long COVID is a range of symptoms that includes brain fog, depression, shortness of breath, dizziness, sleep problems, headaches, and other problems that persist after the acute phase of a COVID infection, according to the National Institutes of Health. Such symptoms can last for many months or longer after an initial COVID-19 diagnosis.
Related: Covid Long-Haulers Share Their Roads to Recovery
Up to 10% to 30% of people who experienced COVID-19 will develop long COVID, according to the American Medical Association.
In the new investigation, researchers conducted a “scoping review,” which is a preliminary assessment of available research that often includes ongoing research. The review included all peer-reviewed, full-text observational research studies published in English between Jan. 1, 2020 and Jan. 27, 2022 that reported on the risk of long COVID in people with and without diabetes, with a minimum of four weeks follow-up after the initial COVID-19 diagnosis and a maximum of seven months.
Results of the review were mixed, and the conclusions are preliminary.
Of the seven studies examined, three found that diabetes was a potential risk factor for developing long COVID. The other four studies were inconclusive regarding a link between long COVID and diabetes.
More research is needed in part because the studies in the new analysis included people with different health statuses, some hospitalized and others not, and varying follow-up lengths.
“As time goes on, we are seeing the negative impacts that long COVID has on the daily lives of patients. Though more research is needed, we now know that patients with diabetes are at a disproportionate risk of long COVID and that these patients should be closely monitored,” said Jessica L Harding, PhD, assistant professor at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA, and lead author on the study, in a press release.
Diabetes drug boasts impressive weight loss in obesity
The good news keeps coming for Eli Lilly: On the heels of the FDA’s approval last month of the pharmaceutical giant’s once-weekly injectable drug tirzepatide (Mounjaro) for type 2 diabetes, new evidence shows the drug is also remarkably effective for weight loss, according to findings presented at the ADA meeting and published June 4 in the New England Journal of Medicine.
In the 72-week, phase 3 double-blind controlled trial, 2,539 people who had obesity but not diabetes were randomly assigned to receive once-weekly injections of a placebo or one of three doses of tirzepatide: 5, 10, or 15 milligrams (mg). Participants had an average starting weight of 231 pounds.
Participants who took the highest dose, 15 mg, lost an average of 21% of their body weight, or 52 pounds, compared to a loss of just 3% in the placebo group. At the middle dose, 10 mg, average weight loss was 19.5% of body weight or 49 pounds. At the lowest dose, 5 mg, average weight loss was 15% or about 35 pounds.
Side effects were mild and included nausea, diarrhea, and constipation.
The results set tirzepatide up to seek a new approval as an obesity therapy, which would vastly increase its market and position it as a major competitor of Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster weight-loss drug semaglutide (Wegovy), which also was first approved for type 2 diabetes.
Freelance writer
Melissa Erickson has more than 30 years of experience as a journalist, including reporting for a group of weekly newspapers in the Chicago suburbs and contributing to the news service for GateHouse Media Inc. and Gannett Co.
