1. Cardiovascular mortality

Managing diabetes is a daily struggle but is poses even greater risks and challenges for women. Generally, diabetes roughly doubles the risk for cardiovascular mortality, for women it is even a three-fold risk-increase. They are likely to have earlier heart attacks and are more likely to die from it.1 Due to differences in acute symptoms, women often don’t get the right treatment for severe cardiac events: While men may present with excruciating chest pain, women often display less obvious symptoms like neck- and abdominal pain, insomnia, and shortness of breath. 

2. Reproductive health 

Women with diabetes also face additional challenges related to their reproductive health. Conditions such as Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), hormonal imbalances, impaired fertility, aggravation of menopausal symptoms and urinary tract infections (UTIs) occur all too frequently and can be a significant limitation in daily life. 

3. Mental burden 

Besides physical problems, the mental burden of diabetes weighs heavy. Stigma around weight and lifestyle in diabetes is highly prevalent and affects women more often than men. In gestational diabetes, women may experience stigma in the form of discrimination from health personnel, guilt and shame. While weight and lifestyle are important risk factors, gestational diabetes also occurs in metabolically healthy women, and these feelings of blame can be a heavy burden during this time.

4. Being criticised

Women also are more likely to feel criticized for their dietary choices and body weight, both in the media and personally. The recommendation to “just move more and eat better “, or questions such as „are you really allowed to eat that?“, can take on special significance in women. The constant preoccupation with food, weighing it, reading labels, rating its nutritional value, and classifying it into “good” and “bad” can be a major contributor to an unhealthy relationship with food. In female adolescents, eating disorders and weight dysphoria are particularly common and even more so in females with type 1 diabetes.

 5. Sex disparities 

It begins early on: a recent published systematic review showed that girls with T1D have higher BMIs, worse glycemic control, need higher insulin doses, more hospitalisations, and a lower quality of life, compared to their male counterparts.

So, what is needed to improve women’s health care in diabetes? One step is raising awareness and fostering understanding. But more than understanding, women and girls with diabetes need special attention from their physicians to their unique concerns: their physical symptoms, their mental health, and secure access to a tight support-network from various fields of health care.  

Thanks so much for reading and we’ll provide you with the next episode of this series soon! 

Norhammar A. Diabetes and cardiovascular mortality: the impact of sex. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2018 Jul;6(7):517-519. doi: 10.1016/S2213-8587(18)30111-6. Epub 2018 May 8. Erratum in: Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2018 Jul;6(7):e6. PMID: 29752193.

Keteepe-Arachi T, Sharma S. Cardiovascular Disease in Women: Understanding Symptoms and Risk Factors. Eur Cardiol. 2017 Aug;12(1):10-13. doi: 10.15420/ecr.2016:32:1. PMID: 30416543; PMCID: PMC6206467.

Davidsen E, Maindal HT, Rod MH, Olesen K, Byrne M, Damm P, Nielsen KK. The stigma associated with gestational diabetes mellitus: A scoping review. EClinicalMedicine. 2022 Aug 11;52:101614. doi: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2022.101614. PMID: 35990581; PMCID: PMC9386490.

Striegel-Moore RH, Rosselli F, Perrin N, DeBar L, Wilson GT, May A, Kraemer HC. Gender difference in the prevalence of eating disorder symptoms. Int J Eat Disord. 2009 Jul;42(5):471-4. doi: 10.1002/eat.20625. PMID: 19107833; PMCID: PMC2696560.

de Vries, Silvia & Verheugt, Carianne & Mul, Dick & Nieuwdorp, Max & Sas, Theo. (2023). Do sex differences in paediatric type 1 diabetes care exist? A systematic review. Diabetologia. 66. 10.1007/s00125-022-05866-4. 

When one thinks of diabetes, insulin automatically comes to mind, an important hormone for the human metabolism. But what is its function and, above all, what side effects does insulin have?

Besides lowering glucose being the main task for insulin, there’s more to it. While usually unnoticed, in type 1 diabetes, where insulin is missing, these side-functions become evident: 

1. Cognitive function, learning, memory

Insulin has a key role in the hippocampus, a brain region that is highly involved in learning, memory and cognitive performance. Besides that it has regulating connections to the limbic system, where emotions, motivation, motor-action control and social behavior is controlled. An absence of insulin (and therefore glucose) leads to difficulties in memory, cognitive function and irritability. The higher the insulin sensitivity, the higher the cognitive performance indicators. [1]

2. Hunger and satiety

Physiologically, after a meal containing carbohydrates, insulin levels rise. As insulin passes the blood-brain-barrier, it acts as a strong feedback signal on satiety-centers (specifically, POMC-Neurons) in the hypothalamus. An absence of or resistance to this signal, as in T1/T2 diabetes, is interpreted by the brain as a shortage in nutrients and energy, thus leading to more appetite and initiating food seeking behavior. [2]

3. Tissue growth

Insulin is one of the most important anabolic, growth hormones. Especially muscles and bones, but also skin, hair and nails depend on the presence, and the right amount of insulin to grow. [3]

4. Fertility

Insulin acts on the female reproductive tract by regulating the production of estrogen and testosterone in hormone-producing cells on ovaries. High insulin levels can lead to high testosterone production, leading to symptoms of PCOS (irregular periods, masculine hair growth, acne). Also contributing to excess estrogen production, sore breasts, fibroids and heavy menses are typically associated with high levels of insulin. Conversely, the absence of insulin (as in T1D) is interpreted as a shortage in food-supply and in order to preserve energy, specific brain centers stop the production of cycle-regulating hormones, leading to irregular periods and infertility. [4][5][6]

Thanks so much for reading and we’ll provide you with the next episode of this series soon!

[1] Capucho AM, Chegão A, Martins FO, Vicente Miranda H, Conde SV. Dysmetabolism and Neurodegeneration: Trick or Treat? Nutrients. 2022; 14(7):1425. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14071425

[2] S.M. Anika, T.R. Houpt, K.A. Houpt, Insulin as a satiety hormone, Physiology & Behavior, Volume 25, Issue 1,1980,Pages 21-23, ISSN 0031-9384, https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9384(80)90175-4.

[3] Insulin and bone health in young adults: The mediator role of lean mass Torres-Costoso A, Pozuelo-Carrascosa DP, Álvarez-Bueno C, Ferri-Morales A, Miota Ibarra J, et al. (2017) Insulin and bone health in young adults: The mediator role of lean mass. PLOS ONE 12(3): e0173874. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0173874

[4] Fica S, Albu A, Constantin M, Dobri GA. Insulin resistance and fertility in polycystic ovary syndrome. J Med Life. 2008 Oct-Dec;1(4):415-22. PMID: 20108521; PMCID: PMC3018970.

[5] Hill JW, Elmquist JK, Elias CF. Hypothalamic pathways linking energy balance and reproduction. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2008 May;294(5):E827-32. doi: 10.1152/ajpendo.00670.2007. Epub 2008 Feb 19. PMID: 18285524; PMCID: PMC5724360.

[6] George B. Karkanias, Jose C. Morales, Chang-Sheng Li, Deficits in Reproductive Behavior in Diabetic Female Rats Are Due to Hypoinsulinemia Rather Than Hyperglycemia, Hormones and Behavior, Volume 32, Issue 1, 1997,Pages 19-29, ISSN 0018-506X,

Quality & HR

• We have continued to grow – all open positions were successfully filled, that means 9 new team members were recruited in 2022.  
• We implemented a document management system. Also, we implemented and certified the relevant processes for the DCB Management System according to ISO 9001. The audit went great and they reported zero findings!  

Innovation & Business Development

• Oh yes, we did innovate and develop our business in 2022! The team evaluated >200 ideas, proposals, and applications. Several dozen projects/startups were supported by DCB: With expertise, access to our network, facilities, and funding.
• The DCB Open Innovation Challenge was again a huge success! 66 applications from 22 different countries helped grow the vibrant DiabetesTech community and resulted in the six final projects from Denmark, France, Australia, Germany and the U.S. Our highlight, the DCB Start-Up Night & Award Ceremony took place on 30 November, where the jury selected the two winners: Ole Kjerkegaard Nielsen with GO-Pen ApS from Denmark (Category Diabetes Devices) and Pascal Grimm with Una Health from Germany (Category Digital Diabetes).

Clinical & Data

• First clinical study terminated: Our first clinical study has been conducted at the Universitätsklinik für Diabetologie, Endokrinologie, Ernährungsmedizin& Metabolismus (UDEM), Berne, Switzerland and Institut für Diabetes-Technologie (IfDT), Ulm, Germany. For this study, for an insulin pump manufacturer, we were responsible for the whole clinical process from clinical study plan writing, EC submission, material supply, site monitoring, data cleaning and analyzing to the study report writing.  
• The secure web-based EDC system, REDCap, deployed: With the support of iSolutions and the IT department of the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine of the University of Bern, REDCap, a secure web-based EDC system, has been deployed into a Cloud Environment (PaaS). DCB will use REDCap for the collection of data from various clinical trials and medical registries.  
• Clinical / Data teams grew: Five new employees, Stefanie Hossmann, Constance Bischoff, Dr. Stefanie Hofer, Dominique Rubi and Aritz Lizoain joined DCB and brought their expertise, experience and good mood to the Clinical and Data Teams.  
• 3 internships successfully finished:  

Laura Burlando conducted a systematic review on the effect of the menstrual cycle on diabetes management for her master’s in eHealth at the University of Lucerne.  

Aritz Lizoain performed data analysis of in-vitro glucose measurements and contributed to the development of a continuous glucose monitoring sensor to complete his master’s in statistics at the University of Neuchâtel.  

Katja Kilcher did a qualitative research project with regards to global regulations and requirements for electronic Consent processes.  

• FibreGum starts for recruitment: The clinical study FibreGum, under the supervising of Prof. Maria Luisa Balmer, started for recruitment at the Children Clinic Berne. The study will assess the effect of an additive in a chewing gum on body weight loss. 105 adolescents and young adults, treated at the weight management department, will be included over 2 years.  

Associated research group of Prof. Dr. phil. Lilian Witthauer

• The samlab (sensing & monitoring lab) has successful initiated the moonwalk pilot study where they investigate the relationship beween nocturnal hypogycemia symptoms and sleep  
• The samlab has built up their optical lab and in now ready to perform cutting edge research  

Thank you, dear readers for your loyalty and interest throughout the year! We will continue to provide you with new series, inside stories and regular updates in 2023. All the best and till soon!?

How are things going with you & meala at the moment, what is the status / what are you currently working on?

meala: Things are very busy at the moment, but going great! meala’s been a proper company since this summer and our CEO Kevin Nils Röhl just got back from San Francisco, where he had the opportunity to present our new app concept at the DiabetesMine Innovation Days. We’ve broadened the scope of meala to include the possibility of conducting research. The first research project was called „Pizza Challenge“ which we successfully finished in collaboration with DCB and Dexcom earlier this year. We’re currently evaluating the results from the Pizza Challenge, but it’s still possible to contribute to the project by using the meala app.

What has happened since the Challenge / how did the Challenge support you?

meala: So many things have happened and we received such great support from DCB – throughout the Innovation Challenge and beyond. By participating in the DCB Innovation Challenge, we gathered insightful knowledge about pitching during the training with Patrick Rohr and start-up development in our 1:1 sessions with experts like Derek Brandt and Valentin Christian Splett. The award ceremony with so many people from the diabetes community is a memory we will cherish for a long time. Since then, with the continuing support of DCB, we have been able to expand the team at meala and we have established collaborations with patients organizations like diabetesDE and Blickwinkel Diabetes.

What is to come in the upcoming months?

meala: We will be publishing the results of the Pizza Challenge on international conferences throughout the next year! The great feedback from our community motivates us to work towards bridging the gap between patients and research and helping to establish more studies for people with diabetes in real-life settings. We want to emphasize the importance of peer support and experiential expertise for self-management and we’re already working on the next study called “Cookie Challenge”. That new research project is all about insulin-to-carb ratio, including community events and publications. If you’re interested in collaborating, don’t hesitate to contact us at mail@heymeala.com.

Thanks so much for reading and we’ll provide you with the next episode of this series soon!