12
NEWS
No sweat
A new partnership is set to make exercise easy for
people with (or at risk of) Type 2 diabetes.
BHR Pharmaceuticals Ltd,
which distributes diagnostic
products for home and
GP use, has teamed up
with the developers of EXi a digital
therapeutic who specialise in digital
personalised exercise prescriptions
to help people with diabetes take
control of their health and fitness.
Anyone who buys BHR's home
blood glucose monitor A1CNow
Self Check will receive a year's free
subscription to EXi, allowing users
to enter their HbA1C results into
the app and obtain a personalised
exercise prescription. Both are
suitable for people with prediabetes
or obesity, as well as those with
Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. The
partnership comes at a time
when many face-to-face clinical
appointments have been cancelled
because of the Covid pandemic,
making self-care at home more
crucial than ever.
EXi is an evidence based and
NHS- approved app developed by
two physiotherapists and aims to
build physical activity slowly and
safely. Users select any combination
of 23 medical conditions, which
include diabetes, cardiovascular
disease and depression. Exercise is
set at the right intensity for each
person and the app checks you are
working out at the correct level. It
will also nudge you to check your
HbA1C every 12 weeks. Meanwhile,
BHR is offering support for
customers to enable them to make
the most of the intervention.
Not a fitness app
EXi is a class 1 medical device and
not a fitness app. It is hoped that
in future it could be prescribed by
healthcare professionals. The app
allows for real-time activity and
health outcome data to be relayed
back to them to help with patient
care. EXi's clinical team are actively
engaged in independent clinical trials
Louise O'Mahony, head of
healthcare for EXi, says, "The
collaboration with BHR is not just
about knowing your numbers
and understanding them, but
understanding what to do with them.
We want to empower people who are
at risk or have an existing diagnosis
of diabetes to improve their health."
BHR's self-test, which can be used
every two to three months, provides
quantitative results in five minutes
from a single drop of blood inserted
into the device. A low HbA1C will
reassure patients they are adequately
controlling their long-term blood
glucose levels; a higher reading
may indicate they need to visit their
healthcare professional.
Ramesh Patel, co-director of BHR
lives with Type 1 diabetes himself,
adds, "One reason we took on this
partnership with EXi is that Covid
has stopped people going to their
surgery or clinic, so the number
of HbA1c blood tests has dropped
drastically. People need to get used
to helping themselves. Educating
people, making sure they can look
after themselves is very important,
especially if they have a long-term
condition like diabetes. In the long
run, it could help prevent future
complications."
A1CNow Self Check costs £71.14
for a pack of four tests (excluding
VAT) and that includes a year's
subscription to EXi, from
www.bhr.co.uk
Ramesh Patel.
We want to
empower people
who are at
risk or have an
existing diagnosis
of diabetes to
improve their
health ~ Louise
O'Mahoney, EXi
A1CNow Self Check is the UK's
first and only licensed HbA1C selftesting kit,
enabling people to
measure their own blood glucose
levels. It consists of four single-use
HbA1C tests, shown in trials to be
highly accurate. HbA1c testing is one
of nine NICE recommended diabetes
checks that all people with diabetes
should receive at least once a year.