Pathway to Stop Diabetes

Image courtesy of Pathways to Stop Diabetes

The American Diabetes Association has just announced an initiative called Pathways to Stop Diabetes. Here is a brief snippet from their website about the program's intentions.

We realize that it takes more than natural talent for young researchers to realize their full potential. It takes comprehensive support every step of the way. To make the career commitment to diabetes research attractive, fulfilling and rewarding, Pathway to Stop Diabetes will provide that support in every way.

I think that it's very exciting to see such a large organization thinking about research in a different way. It's also encouraging to see that program financially backed so significantly by pharma companies. I hope you can take a few minutes to learn more about Pathway.

If you are a brilliant young scientist, are raising one or know a young researcher that may be interested in being at the forefront of discovery. Please consider diabetes research as your field of focus. Pathway offers researchers mentoring, grants and much more. Who knows, maybe you're the next Frederick Banting, MD. 

More blurbs from the Pathway to Stop Diabetes website:

"Our vision is simple yet revolutionary: find a new generation of brilliant scientists at the peak of their creativity, then provide them with the freedom, autonomy, and financial and professional resources to set them on the road to breakthrough discoveries."

"Diabetes research is critically underfunded. Twice as many Americans have diabetes as have cancer. Diabetes is over 20 times more prevalent than HIV/AIDS. Yet National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding for diabetes is 1/5 that of cancer and 1/3 that of AIDS. On a per-person-affected basis, diabetes funding is a rounding error in comparison. This difference has persisted for decades." - more

Arden's Day wishes the Pathway program a very successful (but hopefully short) life!

Be well,

Scott

Readi Pak from Sanofi (GiveAway)

Did you know that Sanofi recently launched a multi-purpose bag venture? I didn't either. The entire thing seemed a bit odd to me at first, so I reached out to them with a few questions. 

Was Readi Pak a company that Sanofi took over/rebranded?

Sanofi US designed Readi Pak after recognizing a need for a convenient and discreet way for people living with diabetes to carry around their diabetes supplies.

What made Sanofi get into this business? What is the goal?

Sanofi strives to help people manage the complex challenges of diabetes by going beyond the molecule to develop and deliver best-in-class innovative, integrated and personalized solutions that address real needs people have in managing their diabetes every day. We designed the Readi Pak after recognizing a need for a convenient and discreet way for people living with diabetes to carry around diabetes supplies. To make this a relevant solution, we wanted input on the design and usability of the bags from those newly diagnosed with diabetes and shared our early prototypes with a small local student group (many of whom have type 1) for their feedback and opinions. We are pleased to offer new products such as the Readi Pak in order to help people manage their diabetes every day.

Are there plans to expand with other products?

At this time, this is a pilot program and we do not have any plans to expand or other products under development.  However, our vision is to serve as a valued partner to the diabetes community by listening and engaging in a dialogue directly with people living with diabetes, and these conversations help us identify new opportunities to provide diabetes solutions that are truly relevant.

Now it makes sense to me why the company that makes Arden's insulin got involved in the D-accessory business. I've seen and used a Readi Pak and it's a solid product, appears very well made and was designed with diabetes in mind. It comes with a removable kit for your more often touched supplies and has plenty of room for all of the rest. It even has a reusable ice pack. 

Enough of all that, let's get to the fun part.

I have three Readi Paks, one Camouflage, one Blue and one Pink Swirl (that I used to evaluate the bag (it's clean/new don't worry) to give away. I don't have many giveaways so please don't expect an elaborate system to be put in place to choose the winners. What you can expect is this... I'll be putting names in a hat and then asking Arden to draw them out. I assume no liability and offer no warrantee for the bags. If that sounds good to you... read on.

Anyone living in the U.S. (and that's only because I'm paying shipping) that is interested in winning a Readi Pak should comment below "Please Enter Me". Be sure to leave your email address in the provided place so I can contact you for a mailing address if you win. The drawing will be, let's say, Saturday, December, 22, 2012. Entries arriving before 9 AM on that day will be included in the drawing. Please include your color choice in the comment and I'll do my best to get it to you. There is only one rule, please just one entry per physical mailing address. 

To learn more about the Readi Pak and to see the other colors, go to https://www.readionthego.com

I was not compensated by Sanofi/Readi Pak for this post. I'm even giving away the bag that was offered to Arden.

Update on Wednesday, December 12, 2012 at 8:00PM by Scott Benner

You can quickly become a site member to stay informed of future GiveAways and announcements. I'll be giving some copies of my book away early next year.

Update on Wednesday, April 10, 2013 at 11:57AM by Scott Benner

This GiveAway ended in December of 2012.

Diabetapedia

A few months ago Discuss Diabetes introduced Diabetapedia (di-ah-bee-tah-pee-dee-ah), "a digital resource developed with the goal of creating a single, comprehensive place where anyone can find and share definitions of diabetes-related terms and phrases".

I loved the idea of the site when I learned of it because I can remember when I first arrived in the DOC, there was so much jargon, abbreviations and diabetes slang that at times I didn't know what anyone was talking about.

The site lets users search, suggest and enhance terms related to diabetes... it's pretty awesome! There's even a widget that bloggers can add to their sites so that your readers can look up a word or phrase on Diabetapedia without ever leaving your blog. I've added it to Arden's Day on the lower right side of our page, just under the search field for this site.

Sanofi US Diabetes and Diabetapedia helps support the Diabetes Hands Foundation and Diabetes Advocates (I am a member of DA). You can learn more about DHF and their relationship with Sanofi US Diabetes here. 

http://www.diabetapedia.com/

The iOS compatible iBGStar meter has arrived

Sanofi-aventis has been out in front in terms of their connection with the diabetes online community for some time now. From the DiabetesMine Design Challenge to their human presence on twitter, Sanofi is continually showing us that they are committed to being a positive part of the community.

Today with the announcement of the iBGStar blood glucose meter they've brought the first iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch compatible meter to market. Is that exciting? Damn right it is but not completely for the reasons that you may think.

I haven't used or touched the iBGStar yet so I can't tell you the first thing about how well it works but I do know two things; I believe that Sanofi is committed to helping the DOC and they would be foolish to introduce this meter before it was ready for prime time. I expect that when I do have the chance to see the meter in person, I'll be impressed.

So if I haven't used it... why I'm I writing about it?

Simple... What Sanofi has done today is bigger then a meter, what they've done is throw down the gauntlet. Much like when Apple first introduced the iPhone, the release of this product says, "no more clunky technology that looks like it's from a 1976 sci-fi movie". Prior to the iPhone our cell phones were terrible and why were they? Because the companies that manufactured them had no reason to do anything about it. We were all using our flip phones and no one was complaining. That of course didn't mean that it wasn't possible to make something better, just that it didn't make sense for the companies to put the time, money or effort into making them better. That business model worked just fine and would still be in use today if Apple didn't raise the bar.

In my mind that's what Sanofi did today, they raised the bar. In the short-term that means there is a new meter on the market that fits better into our new iPhone lives. In the long-term, well, that's where we all benefit. I'd bet that right now there are meetings going on at every device manufacturer in the country and they are all wondering what they need to do to keep up... and that's great news for all of us that live with diabetes.

If you want to read a hands-on account of the iBGStar, there are probably plenty but I'd start with Allison's over at DiabetesMine. When you finish reading her write up you'll see the names of some other great D-bloggers that were at a launch event yesterday and I bet they will have their thoughts online very soon.

If you think back to what the first smartphone looked like or even consider how much the iPhone has changed since it's launch, then you'll be as excited as I am to wonder what blood glucose testing will look like in just a few years. It's my contention that none of these advancements happen until someone goes first. So for that alone... I say, "thank you" Sanofi!

Apidra SoloStar supply news

Looks like Sanofi will have the supply of their Apidra SoloStar pen back to normal levels in the second quarter of 2012. Sanofi has made the FDA aware of their timetable and SoloStar users should be happy again in just a short time.

The company has produced a web page that can help a SoloStar user navigate the supply issues and they've also extended their free Apidra offer as a way to help soften the sting of this inconvenience. We've taken advantage of the free offer even though Arden doesn't use the SoloStar pen... Nothing better then free insulin, right?

Arden's A1c is at it's lowest ever since we switched to Apidra so I'm more then excited and happy to let you all know that it's out there and for a while longer, free.