A New Continuous Glucose Monitor For People that do not have Diabetes
by, Kathryn Gentile
I’m not gonna lie, I get quite excited when I see another person with diabetes in the “wild”. It’s nice to connect with others that just get it. Of course, the reason I know they live with diabetes is because I see one of their devices. Lately, companies have begun to explore cgm use for people that don’t live with diabetes. I’m honestly a bit bummed about this and quite honestly think it’s unnecessary.
Abbott, the company that makes the Libre sensors, is introducing a new line of sensors that will collect a broader range of readings for exercise purposes, nutrition regimens, and overall health. Their target customers will be elite athletes and casual exercisers.
They plan to have the sensors read glucose, ketones, lactate, and alcohol. The ketone sensor will be able to detect when a user’s body is in a state of ketosis which is when our bodies switch over to fat for fuel and use that to offer insights into dieting and weight loss efforts. The lactate sensor will measure lactic acid buildup during exercise. Then, what seems a bit unrelated, the alcohol sensor monitors alcohol intake.
As an Exercise Physiologist, I do think some of the data we can get is pretty cool and it is much easier than doing a finger stick to check for ketone levels and lactate when doing physical activity. It could help athletes, like runners, prevent “hitting the wall”. But, the average person is unlikely to have any clue how to interpret the data. In my opinion, It’s all a bit too much.
For more information, https://www.fiercebiotech.com/medtech/abbott-ceo-ford-unveils-lingo-line-sports-biosensors-based-diabetes-monitoring-tech
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