Dubai's GluCare offers World-First Remote continuous data monitoring for juvenile diabetics

• “Young diabetics and their families face different challenges and technology, as used in our model of care, assists us in addressing these unique challenges like never before…” – GluCare’s Co-Founder
• The new service also marks the first use of Digital Therapeutics in caring for youth and children in the MENA region

Dubai, United Arab Emirates: GluCare Integrated Diabetes Center, the world’s first healthcare provider to employ Remote Continuous Data Monitoring as part of its standard care model,  is now also the first to offer it to juvenile diabetes patients and their families. Opened late 2020, and located on Dubai’s Al Wasl Road, GluCare is now accepting young patients ranging in age from infant to teenagers across both Type-1 and Type-2 diabetes. The new service also marks the first time that Digital Therapeutics* (DTx) will be utilized in caring for youth and children in the MENA region.

Using wearable and connected technology including the GluCare wrist band, a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) and a proprietary phone app, GluCare’s team of doctors, educators, nutritionists, and health coaches are provided with a comprehensive and 24/7 real-time view of young patients and their condition across a variety of key health parameters. This is in stark contrast to traditional models of diabetes care where the onus is on both patient and their parents to both monitor and report on the child’s condition and ensure that they strictly adhere to a care plan that includes the ongoing self-monitoring of blood glucose levels, diet and activity, and ongoing interventions in the form of self-administered insulin shots and medication.

Among the ten parameters monitored by GluCare are each patient’s blood glucose levels, heart rate, heart rate variability, respiration rate and physical activity. Through the proprietary phone app, young patients and their families are able to log food records as well as report well-being and mood. The app also provides educational learning modules developed by GluCare, and a chat function allows two-way communication between health coaches and other clinicians with patients and their parents. All information becomes part of the child’s digital medical record that in turn, helps both clinicians and parents make better informed treatment and care decisions as it provides a 24/7 window into each patient’s condition in between clinic visits, a first for any clinic globally.

Using each patient’s data, artificial intelligence and machine learning also identify risk scores for co-morbidities for each patient that are shared with clinicians who are able to make medical interventions if necessary, between clinic visits.

According to GluCare’s Co-Founder and Managing Director, Dr Ihsan Almarzooqi, the Center and its continuous healthcare approach is exceptionally well-positioned to address the challenges that young diabetics and their families face: “Young diabetics and their families face different challenges and technology, as used in our model of care, assists us in addressing these unique challenges like never before.” 

“Managing diabetes is tremendous responsibility and under traditional models of care, it can be both daunting and stressful. GluCare aims to offer another layer of support for both patient and parents not only through continuous monitoring, remote care, and interventions, but also through providing a full picture of their child’s health and care in between visits. Our continuous healthcare approach adds additional comfort for parents as they know that we are continuously analyzing trends in the background,  such as glycemic variability of their children. This level of care and information is invaluable in ensuring that young diabetics and their families thrive.” 

In the UAE, diabetes affects about 20% of the overall population, with an equal number of pre-diabetics.  While there is limited overall data on childhood diabetes, studies in countries such as the United States show that there has been a significant increase in childhood Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes between 2002-2012, an account echoed anecdotally by UAE doctors[1].  A small 2020 study also found that the number of children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes almost doubled during the peak of the coronavirus outbreak in the UK, with similar accounts being reported in both Italy and China as well.[2]

GluCare’s expansion to include a juvenile diabetes division comes just following news that the Center has secured the United Arab Emirates’ first QISMET accreditation for its diabetes program. The coveted accreditation further reinforces GluCare’s innovative world-first model of care as it means that GluCare’s diabetes program meets the standards set by the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) as an effective and recommended treatment for diabetes. The news also coincides with the expansion of the GluCare team to include Pediatric Endocrinologist Dr. Kowshik Gupta and Endocrinologist, Dr. Milena Caccelli.

GluCare’s tech-enabled continuous healthcare model of care is further complemented by a vastly different, yet highly efficient in-clinic experience. An in-house lab and pharmacy and unique in-clinic workflows mean minimal wait-times and no need for unnecessary visits. Each visit to GluCare takes approximately 1-hour including consultation, diagnosis, investigation, treatment, and prescription. Outpatient specialties within the center include endocrinology, ophthalmology, cardiology, and podiatry. 

Currently accepting new patients of all ages, insurance providers currently accepted at GluCare include NAS/Neuron, AXA, Al Madallah, Mednet and Nextcare.

For more information on GluCare, visit www.Glucare.Health 

[1] Surge in number of children in UAE with type 1 diabetes | The National (thenationalnews.com)

[2] New-Onset Type 1 Diabetes in Children During COVID-19: Multicenter Regional Findings in the U.K. | Diabetes Care (diabetesjournals.org), COVID-19 and diabetes: a co-conspiracy? - The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology

© Press Release 2021