Week 15-And I would like to wish everyone a very happy and healthy 4th of July! This week we welcome our newest member Julie from Florida! She has been a Type 1 diabetic for the last 19 years and began using Afrezza in April. In two short months her A1C has already dropped from a 7.3 to a 6.3. Previously, she has experience with many diabetic treatments including the insulin pen and the insulin pump-which for her seemed to cause a lot of errors and issues, so she was very anxious to try Afrezza. One thing that Julie mentioned is that her doctor considered her A1C of 7.3 acceptable, but she knew it was still doing damage to her body, and insisted on even better control for better long-term health in the future (plus she was tired of dealing with her insulin pump). The other thing is that both Julie and I enjoy amusement parks, and if you would like to read an analogy I did on a previous post about diabetes and amusement parks then click here.  Life on Afrezza is as exciting as any rollercoaster-without all the ups and downs and feeling nauseous when you can’t get off the ride–yes, the life of  a diabetic before Afrezza. I greatly thank Julie for sharing her results and also her story with us, and being a part of a group that will continue to spread the word about how Afrezza has changed life as we all know it!

Also, this week, I got a call from Dr. Bode’s office asking if I would like to submit a short article for the Atlanta Diabetes Center Newsletter. Was very honored to be asked, and with their permission, I am including my portion of their newsletter here for you so you know what all their patients will be seeing this month:

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My thanks to everyone in the group for keeping track of your results and finding the time in your busy week to send me all your #’s! On another topic, the prescription #’s for Symphony Tracking Service which is released every Friday came out today, and for the first time Total Prescriptions are over 500–a new record–all without any advertising or marketing. (disclaimer–I don’t think or believe anyone uses this service for accurate tracking of ACTUAL prescriptions since the service does not include the prescriptions for CVS, Walmart, Costco and some other chains. In addition I believe part of their formula is an algorithm, so even though I’m positive it is NOT an accurate number, I still like to see what the general trend of this “flawed” number is.). It’s obvious that there is a growing “buzz” amongst the diabetic community to take back control of your diabetes and significantly lower your A1C by using Afrezza (as every single one of our Afrezza Users here have done!) and that prescription number continues to grow.

Here is the Type 1 Chart for this week. :

As for the our Type 2 Group–Hillard had a faulty meter this week that he got replaced and as a result his numbers might be a little off. Everybody is doing really well and as a side note, I’m getting a heck of a lot of inquiries from more Type 2’s asking about Afrezza.

Here is the Type 2 Chart for this week:

What surprises you most about the Week 15 data?

All the weeks I have been writing this weekly report and it seems to have flown by so fast.  I’m amazed at where all of our A1C’s are currently at–and we all expect to have continued improvement which you should hear more about this month and next month. If there was a way that our “real world” experience was an actual drug trial, I truly believe Afrezza would become the new gold standard for treating Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes. Type 1 diabetics need the very best treatment for our disease–after all, insulin is like “air” to a non-diabetic–if we don’t have it we will die. Seeing the Type 1 Diabetic community (and doctors) rally behind Afrezza tells me that when the most stringent users experience these same results, then the doctors who prescribe to Type 2’s will feel even more comfortable prescribing Afrezza for them too.

What is the Afrezza Users “Real Life” Results Group?

It is a group of Afrezza Users who use a Continuous Glucose Monitors (mostly Type 1’s) seeking tighter diabetes control and measuring the time spent in each blood sugar range. Laureen uses “finger prick” measurements throughout her day to measure her blood glucose levels while the rest of us are using CGM’s (continuous glucose monitors). It is NOT a competition between T1’s and T2’s nor among any of us and was only started so people could understand and see the inherent benefit of why Afrezza provides better control and higher patient satisfaction for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics over any our previous regimens. In essence, this is a “real-world” trial of “do your best”, and have good and bad days, but keep track of it all, and let everyone know the results. Well, the results thus far are clearly and unbelievably positive for Afrezza.

Why are you doing this?

There has been so much discussion about the FDA Afrezza Drug trials and why I feel as a participant in the Affinity 1 trial, there were significant “hold backs” as to why we were not able to materially outperform Injectable Insulin because of the protocols on the trials. This is no longer the case!

To Summarize here are just a few of the hold backs why Afrezza didn’t get to show how great it works:

• Afrezza Dosing was only changed approx. every 6 weeks, and not flexible dosing depending on meal
• No CGM’s allowed
• Time in Zone not measured
• Patient Quality of Life not measured
• Brand new Afrezza users vs. Very experienced Injectable users (what if it was brand new injectable users vs. experienced Afrezza users—would that be fair? No-they would stop the trial right away because it would be a TKO/referee stops contest victory for Afrezza which we are already proving by “real-world” experience.)

What would you like to express to everyone out there considering Afrezza or to any doctors considering prescribing Afrezza for their patients?

My opinion is that Afrezza is a “life-changing” drug. It improved my life and every single person in our “real life” group which gives me hope that diabetics everywhere can be helped by this insulin therapy. I wish the same for you or any other diabetic you know—to enjoy a better, longer and higher quality of life! Please demand to try Afrezza from your doctor, and see for yourself!