FDA clears first smartphone app for insulin delivery - The Verge

      The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared a smartphone app from Tandem Diabetes Care to program insulin delivery for its t:slim X2 insulin pump. It is the first phone app for both iOS and Android to able to deliver insulin. Tandem Diabetes Care opined that with this update, pump users will be able to program or cancel bolus doses of insulin, which are taken at mealtimes and are crucial in keeping blood glucose levels under control. The change could be a big improvement for people who prefer not to have pumps out in pubic settings or attach them to undergarments like bras.

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Verapamil continues its benefits in T1D after 2 years of diagnosis

      It is well documented that there is no current oral treatment for type 1 diabetes. The suggestion that verapamil might serve as a potential type 1 diabetes drug was the serendipitous discovery of study leader Anath Shalev, M.D., director of the Comprehensive Diabetes Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham . The research reported that verapamil, used to treat type 1 diabetes, is continuing to show benefits at least two years after diagnosis. In the two-year study, subjects who stopped daily doses of verapamil at one year saw their disease at two years worsen at rates similar to those of the control group of diabetes patients who did not use verapamil at all. The action of the drug is found to be on proteins which are known to be involved in immune modulation and autoimmunity of type 1 diabetes. The top serum protein altered by verapamil treatment was chromogranin A, or CHGA, which was downregulated with treatment. According to the research team the results reveal for the first time that verapamil treatment may also affect the immune system and reverse these type 1 diabetes-induced changes.

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FDA approves Empagliflozin to reduce CV death, HF hospitalization in HFpEF

      Food and Drug Administration approved Empagliflozin (Jardiance) to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death and hospitalization for heart failure in adults. Empagliflozin was originally approved by the FDA in 2014 as a supplement to diet and exercise to improve glucose control in adults with type 2 diabetes. Empagliflozin’s safety and effectiveness were evaluated as an adjunct to standard of care therapy in a randomized, double-blind, international trial comparing 2,997 participants who received empagliflozin, 10 mg, once daily to 2,991 participants who received the placebo. The main efficacy measurement was the time to death from cardiovascular causes or the need to be hospitalized for heart failure. Of the individuals who received empagliflozin for an average of about two years, 14% died from cardiovascular causes or were hospitalized for heart failure, compared to 17% of the participants who received the placebo. This benefit was mostly attributable to patients being hospitalized for heart failure.

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