Diabetes on demand and novel technologies

A nutritional web-based approach in obesity and diabetes before and during the COVID-19 lockdown

INTRODUCTION

Obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) are two closely related pandemic conditions. Novel technologies represent promising tools for their management, the use of which has been greatly encouraged during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the present study is to compare a web-based nutritional intervention versus a traditional one, before and during the Italian 'lockdown' period due to the COVID-19 outbreak, in overweight and obese subjects affected by T2D or impaired glucose regulation (IGR).

METHODS

For the study, 36 subjects were randomly allocated into two arms: a traditional arm, providing face-to-face individual and group-based intervention; and a web arm, deploying the in-presence traditional approach with intervention provided through web technologies. The outcomes were the data resulting from the comparison between the subjects' anthropometric and clinical parameters as well as PREDIMED scores at baseline with those at 3 months (T3), 6 months (T6) and at lockdown.

RESULTS

In the web arm we detected a progressive reduction in weight and body mass index (BMI) from baseline to T6 and a minimal increase of both parameters during the lockdown. Improvement of these parameters compared with baseline was observed in controls during the lockdown. The PREDIMED score improved at T6 compared with baseline in both arms. Significant variations were observed considering weight (p < 0.001), BMI (p = 0.001) and PREDIMED scores (p = 0.023) over time.

DISCUSSION

The study showed the effectiveness and feasibility of a short-term nutritional web-based intervention in patients affected by T2D or IGR before and during the COVID 19 pandemic.Clinical Trial registration number: NCT04386200, ClinicalTrials.gov.

Chinese clinical guidelines for continuous glucose monitoring (2018 edition)

Blood glucose monitoring is an important part of diabetes management. Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) technology has become an effective complement to conventional blood glucose monitoring methods and has been widely applied in clinical practice. The indications for its use, the accuracy of the generated data, the interpretation of the CGM results, and the application of the results must be standardized. In December 2009, the Chinese Diabetes Society (CDS) drafted and published the first Chinese Clinical Guideline for Continuous Glucose Monitoring (2009 edition), providing a basis for the standardization of CGM in clinical application. Based on the updates of international guidelines and the increasing evidence of domestic studies, it is necessary to revise the latest CGM guidelines in China so that the recent clinical evidence can be effectively translated into clinical benefit for diabetic patients. To this end, the CDS revised the Chinese Clinical Guideline for Continuous Glucose Monitoring (2012 Edition) based on the most recent evidence from international and domestic studies.