Diabetes Technology: The Dexcom G6 Makes Its Regional Debut at GluCare Integrated Diabetes Center

GluCare Integrated Diabetes Center, the world’s first healthcare provider to empower patients through Remote Continuous Data Monitoring as part of its standard care model, and the region’s first healthcare provider to use Digital Therapeutics, is announcing that it is the first in the region to offer diabetes patients the Dexcom G6 Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM). 

First introduced to diabetes patients in 1999, CGMs are wearable technology that track the wearer’s glucose levels throughout the day and night. Unlike the traditional blood glucose monitors (BGM) that provide a single reading at a particular moment via a fingerstick, CGMs provide dynamic and real-time information on the wearer’s blood glucose levels. For those with diabetes, keeping their blood glucose levels in an acceptable range is a key part of maintaining health. Blood glucose data also signals diabetes patients when to take insulin and other medications, and as part their self-management, helps them to avoid various serious, and potentially fatal, complications.  

Among the key benefits of the Dexcom G6 CGM is that the new model eliminates the need for fingerstick calibration which previously would see users draw blood via a fingerstick, twice daily. Used within GluCare’s model of care, the center’s team of healthcare professionals are able to track patient’s glucose readings, and correlate them with their movement, diet, weight, physiological parameters, mental wellbeing and sleep patterns.  

For GluCare Co-Founder and Managing Director, Dr Ihsan Almarzooqi, there is an immediate and pressing need for new and improved diabetes technologies and care models as the number of diabetics in the MENA region is expected to grow from 55 million, to 108 million by 2045: “Diabetes is a 24/7 condition that requires a tremendous amount of self-management and as we can see from the rapidly growing prevalence, current models of care and technologies have not kept pace until now. At GluCare we use technology to empower both our patients and us, as providers with comprehensive, real-time data. The Dexcom G6 is a game-changing diabetes management technology that fits perfectly into our model of care as it not only provides more precise data but does so in a way that reduces additional self management.” 

All data, including that of the G6 is collected and collated in a proprietary phone app that, combined with self-reported factors such as photos of meals and  questionnaires, are sent back in real-time to GluCare’s team of experts. The data is also subject to artificial intelligence and machine learning to identify individual risk factors for various diabetes complications or comorbidities.  GluCare’s expert care team of doctors, health coaches and nutritionists have access to this information in real-time, allowing them to make timely decisions regarding the patient’s care – especially between routine visits.  

Among the other benefits of the Dexcom G6 are new customizable alerts and alarms, including a new Urgent Low Soon alert which can warn users up to 20 minutes in advance of an urgent hypoglycemic event, so they can take steps to prevent it, a 10-day sensor allowing for longer wear (3 days longer than the previous generation Dexcom CGM), a slimmer transmitter with a lower profile for more discreet wearability, an auto-applicator designed to make sensor insertion simple with the touch of a button, a newly designed receiver with a touchscreen display (optional display device), and a new sensor membrane that enables acetaminophen use without any effect on glucose readings.  As part of GluCare’s model of care which uses both CGM and BGM technology, the Dexcom G6 will be offered to patients either on an ongoing basis, or for a set period of time, dependent individual patient requirements and care plans.

The G6 integrates with GluCare’s ‘continuous healthcare’ model seamlessly as it joins other technology within the model: a wearable “band” that measures heart rate and heart rate variability, respiration rate, physical activity, skin temperature, and sleep patterns; and dependent on individual patients, a smart blood pressure monitor and smart weight scale.