DAYTON — News Center 7 Daybreak anchor Letitia Perry opens up about a medical condition that she and millions of other Americans are living with, Diabetes.
Letitia explains how a small medical device, designed to help manage the illness, is now blamed for sending hundreds of people to the hospital. She has Type 2 Diabetes and wears a continuous glucose monitor on her arm.
Letitia gets blood sugar readings on her phone in real time. For her, it’s been lifesaving, but for others, the meter has proven deadly.
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Thousands of patients received letters warning them about the health risk.
Dr. Miguel Parilo, with the Bull Family Diabetes Center, said, “These sensors were not produced correctly, reading low blood sugar even though the blood sugar was not low. I’m on insulin, immediately tried to correct that.”
Last year, thousands of people wearing faulty Libre-3 Plus Meters ate food to raise their numbers, ultimately going too high.
For seven people, that was a deadly mistake. When your glucose is too high, you can pass out, become comatose, and die.
After a night of faculty readings, Letitia decided to prick her finger and learned that her numbers were off the chart high.
“Uncontrolled diabetes can cause blindness, kidney failure requiring dialysis, and amputation of limbs. It’s a terrible, devastating diagnosis,” Parilo said.
However, in most cases, CGMs are game changers, so says Trevor and Aubree Kushmaul. Their son, Charlie, remembers when he had to prick his finger, which was not a good memory for him.
“That wasn’t really that fun. It hurt a little bit, and honestly, it was kind of hard. Took a while, about 10 minutes,” Charlie said.
Charlie has Type 1 Diabetes, and his glucose meter communicates with his insulin pump. His mom is thankful for technology that allows her son to be a typical sixth grader, playing sports, taking trips to NFL games, and simply enjoying his new life.
His mom says the difference after the diagnosis is night and day.
The latest numbers, from the CDC says there are 40.1 million diabetics in the United States, which is 12 percent of the population. CDC says 115.2 million people are pre-diabetic, and 364,000 of them are younger than 20. It’s a real American problem.
Hannah Quinter is a dietary assistant in Celina. She depends on her CGM, but admits the accuracy isn’t 100 percent reliable, and that’s frightening.
“People don’t realize we are manually operating an organ. Normal people don’t have to do that, ensuring our numbers are good,” Quinter said.
Quinter and the Kushmauls agree that the continuous glucose monitor is a game-changer and preferred over the traditional finger sticks.
Trevor Kushmaul said, “When you weigh the pros and cons, life changing. To continue to be a kid, his mom and I have peace of mind.”
A small, metered needle in the arm, giving diabetics a real shot at normal life.
If you want to check to see if your CGM is on the list of faulty ones, click here. If it’s on the list, you can call them for a free replacement.
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