DENVER — Improving diabetic testing for Black people and others in the minority community is one goal of Orange Biomed The company said there is a need for more accurate diabetic testing and Orange Biomed feels they have found the solution. A study in the National Library of Medicine shows the disparity when it comes to Black people getting accurate readings for their A1C testing.
The distrust in the Black community with medical providers dates back decades.
"Everybody knows about Henrietta Lacks and Tuskegee, those were specifically things in our history that occurred. It's not fiction. Tuskegee went on from 1932 to 1972, where Black men with syphilis were not treated, even when it was available," said Dr. Terri Richardson with the Colorado Black Health Collaborative.
Studies like the Tuskegee syphilis project also did not give informed consent, further building distrust in the Black community. Multiple studies show that Black people are facing struggles of getting inaccurate A1C readings.
"How can we make healthcare monitoring easier and more accessible? That's what we focus on at Orange Biomed, and we wanted to empower people to take charge of their own health, giving them accurate, convenient and reliable tools so that they can take care of their health own their own terms," co-founder Luke Jo said.
The team at Orange Biomed is working on a device that will allow people of color to get more accurate A1C readings, which is a blood test that measures blood sugar to diagnose and monitor diabetes.
"For example, (studies) have shown that Black people tend to have higher HbA1c than expected. It('s) even their actual blood sugar levels aren't that high. That's because, typically, they have longer red blood cell lifespans, and the longer red blood cell lifts, the more sugar it accumulates, making HbA1c level appear higher than it really should be," Jo said.
Orange Biomed says the readings are more accurate because traditional testing relies on protein quantification, which does not account for differences in red blood cell lifespans in different races.
"We wanted to provide a better solution that can be just used at their home. So this small device, you can just have it here, just like glucose meter, self-glucose meters, so that you can check your condition whenever you want," said Yeaseul Park, co-president of Orange Biomed.
The company shared that it is in the process of getting FDA clearance but is hopeful its device will make a difference in the community.
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