Doctors consider wearable tech to assist with diabetes
A year-long federal inquiry into diabetes is about to publish its recommendations on how to combat the worsening epidemic. An estimated two million Australians live with diabetes, which can cause complications including heart disease, kidney failure and amputations. MPs and doctors have been considering whether wearable health tech could be part of the solution.
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00:00Edwina Murphy has been living with type 2 diabetes since she was a little girl.
00:07It was at the age of 13, I think, 13 or 12, and being in and out of hospital for years.
00:17Edwina has to constantly watch her sugar levels using a finger pricking device.
00:23I use the pricker for about five years, I think.
00:27The reason why I don't use the pricker is because it hurts.
00:32But a new kind of sensor technology has changed her life.
00:36It comes in a small yellow box, has a plastic needle, like it won't hurt.
00:44Just clip it in and then connect it to your phone.
00:47They're called CGMs, short for Continuous Glucose Monitoring Devices.
00:53They measure what the tissue sugar level is, and they measure that every minute.
01:00And then you can put it into a graph and see what's happening over a period of 14 days.
01:07We can see enormous benefits when people begin to use CGM.
01:12And as they use them, they actually begin to change more and more their behavior, and
01:17we get better and better outcomes.
01:20That could mean changes to diet, exercise, or medication.
01:24These sensors cost anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 a year.
01:29Edwina, and many like her, could never afford them.
01:32It is a very expensive technology, which is why it is an equity issue, that if it's not
01:36subsidized, the young people that I look after would never be able to pay for it themselves.
01:42The federal government currently subsidizes CGMs for people with type 1 diabetes, but
01:47more than 85% of Australians living with diabetes have type 2.
01:52If we do open up the CGM technology to everyone with type 2 diabetes, it would be cost prohibitive
02:00in the short term, looking at probably over a billion dollars.
02:06One proposal to bring down the cost is a staggered approach.
02:10I can see a role for CGM to be used intermittently, say subsidized maybe for one month in three
02:17or one month in six even.
02:19Diabetes is an ever-increasing burden of disease, our largest burden of disease, and is costing
02:25an absolute fortune, and is only getting worse, so we have to do something dramatic to make
02:30a difference.
02:31The inquiry is set to publish its report tomorrow.