The Rise Of Glucose Monitoring Among Non-Diabetics

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, over 37 million people in the U.S. have diabetes. That’s a little over 11% of the entire population.

When you have diabetes your body doesn’t make enough or any insulin at all. Those with the disease must regularly monitor blood sugar. This has been traditionally done with glucometer's by pricking your finger over and over again for drops of blood. But over the last decade, technology like continuous glucose monitoring have been on the rise.

Abbott and Dexcom are the two most dominant players in the space. Both companies have seen increased growth.

The benefits of this technology are also being marketed by several health and wellness apps as many companies see benefits to those who don’t have diabetes.

CNBC spoke with both Abbott and Dexcom about the technology inside CGMs and how they see it expanding.

Chapters:
00:00 — Introduction
03:08 — Diabetes and Continuous Glucose Monitors
04:36 — Dexcom and Abbott
06:25 — Expansion
10:30 — Competition
14:00 — The future

Produced, Shot and Edited by: Erin Black
Animation: Jason Reginato, Alex Wood
Supervising Producer: Jeniece Pettitt
Additional Camera: Andrew Evers, Sydney Boyo

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How Dexcom And Abbott Are Moving Beyond Diabetes

[glbernini]

Been a Type 1 for 35 years. I am so glad 10's of millions of non-diabetics are using these devices & driving costs down!

[sergiosalazar]

It sucks that the company goals are measured in terms of the billions of dollars… not the millions of patients that will benefit from the device

[sw]

It’s so much more sanitary than pricking the fingers a zillion time. We need to get rid of the prescription only requirement and lower the price to something reasonable.

[Acceleronics]

Back at the turn of the century I worked as a Systems Engineer for the startup company TheraSense in Alameda, CA, which created the original Freestyle meter. I worked on their first attempt at a continuous glucose monitor, called Messenger internally. I was a test subject for 10 days, which showed me that my 'carbo-loading' diet was causing my blood sugar graph to look like a roller coaster track. (I was a long distance runner.) I credit that prototype product for changing my diet for the better. I left TheraSense before it was bought by Abbott.

[angelasieg]

My Dexcom has drastically improved my A1C and not having to stab my fingertips 8x a day is amazing

[trashtrashisfree]

Should be over the counter. Ridiculously hard to get one. Would make it so much easier to track my blood sugar and learn what really spikes it.

[CONWAY]

My mom was in and out of comas during my childhood until 1986 when she had a hypoglycemic seizure and flipped over on a pillow and suffocated. These devices might of saved her life. She passed this disease on to me but i mastered it thanks to great education from city of hope, better insulins, glucometers, pumps and now cgms. We've come a long way from beef/pork insulin.

[danycashking]

I like how this production felt very balanced and not adversarial like many videos like this usually end up going into. This one just felt informative and direct.

[Ollagal]

This is a monitor that should be available to every single person that wants it in the world. Diabetic or not we should concentrate on the prevention of diabetes as much as we concentrate on the management of diabetes type two diabetes is a completely manageable and curable disease if more people were educated to metabolic issues then I think we could reduce the amount of type two diabetics by half within the next 10 years. A CGM is one of the best tools to do that. If I eat a potato and my blood sugar spikes to 170, and then I go ahead and eat rice and it only goes up to 120 then that gives me a lot of information on the foods that cause insulin resistance in my body. I don’t understand the hesitation to have this available off the shelf to everybody that wants to buy it and at a reasonable cost. This should not be a $10 billion industry. It should be $100 billion industry, I’m hoping that these companies take these two more main stream uses in prevention. You have a lot of people with dementia that probably have had a high sugar diet their whole lives, and have no idea that sugar is the cause of cognitive issues I would love to work for one of these companies.

[TheDerangedBlood]

My aunt and uncle both have Diabetes and their medical insurance wouldn't cover one of these devices. Tells you something about the medical industrial complex.

[agnescleary]

I don't see why these devices are only available by prescription. Why shouldn't anyone who wants to monitor their blood sugar for whatever reason be able to buy one? It might help people who are in danger of developing type 2 diabetes get valuable information about what dietary measures they can take to keep their blood sugar in the normal range.

[stevepeterson]

When I became type 1 diabetic 57 years, the monitoring was urine based and only told me where my blood sugar was in the past. The 1980s brought the advent of home glucose monitoring, which was a huge advancement that significantly lowered my A1C. I have been using a Dexcom G6 for 2-3? years now and it taught me the timing of how insulin injections, eating and exercise affects my blood sugar. Throw in an insulin pump and my A1Cs are in the non-diabetic range most of the time.

I wouldn't wish diabetes on my worst enemy., but these advancements are God sends.

There is no guarantees that that I won't get diabetic complications, but I hope to delay them as long as possible.

If only the (out of pocket) price was less. Everyone should have access to these technologies. I even have to fight for insurance coverage.

[maharetm]

Literally crying! I have fibromyalgia and have been trying to figure out wtf is wrong with me. I fixed my diet and over years figured out how badly sugar affects me. Carbs are like a toxin to me. I've been desperately trying to get a glucose monitoring device because pricking my fibromyalgic finger kills me. It's torture and I just hold it all in. No one understands how awful it is. I would love to try a continuous glucose monitor. Just deal with that one time potential pain and move on with my day. My sugars aren't crazy high. Barely in the pre diabetic range, but my body responds well to monitoring my carb intake and my blood sugar. It's been LIFE CHANGING. Insurance shouldn't have control over these devices. It's not a drug. It's not a medication. It's a tool.

[texanfournow]

I have been Type 1 for nearly 60 years. I have had too many brushes with death. I am now feeling the best I have ever felt because of Dexcom and Tandem paired together. It is like having a rough approximation of a closed-loop system.

BTW every time Ms. Kaczor says "diabetes franchise" I want to puke. The only thing some people care about is money.

[WealthbuilderzTV]

The thing is medical insurance doesn't cover even half the cost of these items.

[vickyburton]

I think every type 2 diabetic or over weight person should wear a CGM. It teaches you what foods spike your insulin and teach you what activities control glucose levels.

[lexusls]

Fantastic piece. As parent of a young T1D, I look forward to the technological advancements that make this condition easier to manage. The single unit CGM/pump closed loop system will be a significant game changer. Whoever gets there first is the winner.

[ronkirk]

It seems to me that it would be in the interests of insurance companies to increase coverage for these monitors as a cost saving measure because paying for treating the adverse heath effects of diabetes left unmanaged is much more costly than patients taking preventative measures by constant glucose monitoring.

[susankaroly-smith]

CGMs could be the key to preventing diabetes, not just managing it. They're not a health fad - they give you invaluable information about your metabolic health. Hopefully, they will be cheaper in the future, last longer and give you more information about other metabolic markers as well.

[Zane_Zaminsky]

I would not be shocked if Apple solved this problem and came out with a non-invasive CGM smart watch capability before 2030.