RESUMEN
Background: Early-life exposure to nonessential (toxic) and essential trace elements can influence child development. Although infant formula powders and the water used to reconstitute them can contain higher concentrations of many elements compared with human milk, the influence of feeding mode on reliable biomarkers of infant exposure has rarely been demonstrated. Methods: We evaluated associations between urinary biomarkers and feeding mode (exclusively human milk, exclusively formula, or combination-fed) for four toxic (arsenic, cadmium, nickel, and uranium) and three essential elements (cobalt, molybdenum, and selenium) using general linear models. Results: A total of 462 participants from the rural New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study were on average 6 weeks old between July 2012 and March 2019 and had urine samples, 3-day food diaries, and relevant covariate data available. In adjusted models, urinary arsenic was 5.15 (95% confidence interval = 4.04, 6.58), molybdenum was 19.02 (14.13-25.59), and selenium was 1.51 (1.35-1.68) times higher in infants fed exclusively with formula compared with infants fed exclusively with human milk. By contrast, urinary uranium was 0.59 (0.46-0.75) and cobalt was 0.78 (0.65-0.95) times lower with formula feeding than human milk feeding. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that infant exposure to several potentially toxic elements varies by feeding mode, as concentrations of reliable urinary biomarkers were higher with formula or human milk, depending on the element. Importantly, exposure to arsenic increased with household tap water arsenic regardless of feeding mode, suggesting that all infants could be at risk in populations with high concentrations of arsenic in drinking water.
RESUMEN
Insulin administration remains vital to the treatment of diabetes and although there have been advances in insulin delivery, evidence suggests that many people with diabetes on insulin therapy have suboptimal glycemic management. Recent advancements in insulin administration techniques include connected insulin devices, such as connected insulin pens and pen caps. In this review, we provide an overview of the literature on the use of connected insulin pens and pen caps to further elucidate the clinical benefits and drawbacks of these devices. We discuss the development of these devices, outlining the characteristics of insulin pens and pen caps with regulatory approvals. These devices have different features that can ease the burden of diabetes management, including automatic recording of insulin dose information, tracking of insulin-on-board, bolus calculators, and missed dose alerts. Despite the advantages of connected pens and pen caps, a small percentage of insulin users are currently using these devices, due to many factors, including lack of health-care professional awareness, initial training for prescribers, and setup of the device. Overcoming these barriers and publishing more data demonstrating the glycemic outcomes associated with these systems could improve diabetes management for people living with diabetes. As health-care systems become increasingly digital, connected insulin pens have the potential to allow a data-driven approach to diabetes management for people who are not interested in, cannot afford, or do not have intensive insulin regimens that might warrant use of insulin pumps or automated insulin delivery systems.