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FemTech: lab quality diabetes detection, at home

by: James Jackson - Founder and CEO of Digostics, inventor of GTT@home

FemTech

Gestational diabetes - unseen before it’s too late

Gestational diabetes mellitus - GDM - is a form of diabetes which develops in pregnancy. Untreated GDM is associated with a higher incidence of pregnancy complications. Increased baby weight is common in GDM, leading to caesarean deliveries, birth injuries and trauma. GDM can also lead to high blood pressure and preeclampsia in the mother and development of type 2 diabetes later in the mother and the growing child. After GDM, 50% or more of mothers develop type 2 diabetes within 5-10 years and children have an 8-fold increased risk.

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The rise of GDM

Rates of GDM have exploded in recent years, mirroring growth of impaired glucose tolerance (IGT, or prediabetes), obesity, and type 2 diabetes. The proportion of women who are overweight - a major diabetes risk factor - is also rising. Women are developing prediabetes and diabetes earlier, whilst having babies later, and more women entering pregnancy have risk factors that make them vulnerable to GDM.

Only one test

GDM can be successfully managed if detected early. Because symptoms are easy to overlook before it is too late, the only way to detect the condition early is through an accurate blood test called the oral glucose tolerance test - OGTT. OGTT measures blood glucose levels before and after drinking a standard glucose solution and these levels indicate the presence and degree of glucose intolerance or diabetes, or their absence. However, OGTT requires an overnight fast, then travel to a clinic for the 2+ hours test, taking up most or all of the morning and making it inconvenient or inaccessible for pregnant women. Additionally, providers must adhere to stringent testing procedures otherwise the test can miss more GDM than it detects.

Author's note:

GTT@home - the home-use OGTT kit

“Digostics’ new approach to diagnostics moves tests to the home using technology never before applied to home testing, to ensure accuracy and reliability. The biggest contribution Digostics could make in diabetes is to improve the much needed but difficult OGTT, so Digostics has developed GTT@home, the world’s only OGTT home test. GTT@home is equivalent to well-run clinic OGTT, is very easy for patients to use with no training or equipment, and preferred by patients and clinicians. Several applications in diabetes are being developed, however the first focus is detecting GDM early, as part of Digostics’ digital maternity platform.”

James Jackson -1-1