The Glucose Never Lies® Podcast
Host John Pemberton — diabetes educator, researcher, and dad living with type 1 since 2008 — explores how to think clearly about type 1 diabetes in the real world.
Each episode translates current evidence and expert practice into decisions you can use: CGM accuracy and interpretation, getting more from pumps and automated insulin delivery, movement as a glucose tool, nutrition that protects performance and enjoyment, sleep, travel, parties, and sport.
Guests include leading clinicians, researchers, and people with lived experience. Expect respectful challenge, plain language, and practical take-aways.
Note: Educational only. No therapeutic relationship or personal medical advice.
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Email: john@theglucoseneverlies.com
The Glucose Never Lies® Podcast
24 — Skincare, Sensors & Smarter AID Algorithms for Type 1 Diabetes
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Host: John Pemberton, RD
Guest: Dr Laurel Messer, PhD, RN
Epidose page - Detailed show notes
Episode FAQ - Dr Messer answers the FAQ's (free Downlaod)
In this episode, Dr Laurel Messer joins John to break down the real science behind skin integrity, sensor performance, and the hidden link between skincare and safer automation. Drawing on leading research from the Barbara Davis Center, the Panther Program, and international AID consensus work, this conversation reframes device wear as both a biological and behavioural skillset.
Your skin is not decoration — it is life-critical infrastructure.
What This Episode Covers
- Why device-related skin issues are common, predictable, and preventable
- Mechanical vs chemical irritation, and how to distinguish both from allergic dermatitis
- The “Soap–Water–Dry → Rotate → Low & Slow” skin-protection framework
- Why skin damage leads to noisy CGM data and poor insulin absorption
- How to prepare skin for CGM and pump wear in children, teens, and adults
- Practical barrier strategies: wipes, films, and hydrocolloids
- Understanding Control-IQ: why the correction factor is the SUPERPOWER
- Time-block insulin tuning for evening surges, alcohol, illness, and real-life
- The future of Tandem: Control-IQ+, Mobi, patch options, & Libre 3+
Key Insights
Skincare is diabetes care.
Healthy skin leads to better signal quality, fewer dropouts, more predictable insulin delivery, and improved algorithm stability.
Rotation must be broader than most people think.
Use 6–10 zones and give each at least a week off. Children need even more structure due to limited real estate.
Removal is where most damage occurs.
Dr Messer emphasises a wound-care approach: oil-based loosening, supporting the skin, and folding adhesives back on themselves — never pulling upward.
Allergy and irritation are not the same problem.
Irritation improves with barriers and technique; allergy is reproducible, blistering, intensely itchy, and requires dermatology support and sometimes device change.
Control-IQ’s performance hinge is the correction factor.
Across 20,000+ users, strengthening the correction factor improved responsiveness and time-in-range without increasing hypoglycaemia.
Epidose page - Detailed show notes
Episode FAQ - Downlaod the best bits as Laurel answers the FAQ's
For collaboration, partnerships, or press enquiries: John Pemberton — john@theglucoseneverlies.com
For creative, social, and production enquiries: Anjanee Kohli — anj@theglucoseneverlies.com
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