Constant Glucose Monitor

Can you imagine a life where you prick your finger a minimum of four times a day with a needle? Want to eat a sandwich, or a quick snack? Not until you test your blood sugar first! A day in a diabetic’s shoes is not an easy one, but technology today is attempting to make it easier. Now, instead of testing one’s blood sugar 5-10 times a day, technology has decreased the number down to to only two.

Dexcom has come out with a constant glucose monitor (CGM) that reads one’s blood glucose level every 4-8 minutes throughout the day and night. The CGM is a device on the body that lasts up to 7 days and is completely bluetooth. This device monitors blood glucose levels and sends alerts to mobile devices with updated numbers. If blood glucose is above a specific set amount, the dexcom will send an alert to your mobile device, along with those that follow your CGM. You may have up to five followers on your Dexcom CGM.1 This device is extremely beneficial for a diabetic when they are asleep or live alone. With the device being bluetooth, it is capable of sending messages and alerts to the followers no matter the distance.

A CGM must be calibrated twice a day with a blood test on a glucose meter. This helps keep the numbers in range of each other and the CGM on track. Rather than testing one’s blood sugar multiple times a day, it only takes twice a day and the rest is tested with the constant glucose monitor. With this new device and the constant growth of technology towards the treatment for diabetes, it helps tremendously to keep the patient from being hyper or hypoglycemic. This also helps develop the decrease in A1C numbers across the board. 2

References:

1. Buckingham, B., Block, J., & Wilson, D. M. (2005). Continuous glucose monitoring. Current Opinion in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Obesity, 12(4), 273-279.
2. Pandit, K. (2012). Continuous glucose monitoring. Indian journal of endocrinology and metabolism, 16(Suppl 2), S263.