Nonstop Monitoring Helps Glycemic Control in Diabetics

Less Hypoglycemia with the use of a continuous glucose monitoring system.

The use of a continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS – Medtronic Minimed) provides more effective guidance on therapy adjustment in insulin-treated diabetes than does reliance on frequent self-monitoring using a home blood glucose meter, researchers report in the December issue of the Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Lead investigator Dr. John Mastrototaro, a vice president at Medtronic MiniMed, Northridge, California, told Reuters Health that with self-monitoring, "patients often spend a significant amount of time outside of their ideal blood glucose range. Because the CGMS captures a complete glycemic picture missed by intermittent fingerstick measurements, therapy adjustments based upon CGMS readings are more accurate and help patients avoid dangerous glucose swings that lead to diabetes-related complications."

Dr. Mastrototaro and colleagues studied 51 diabetics randomized to the CGMS and 58 randomized to self-monitoring.
Although hemoglobin A1C levels improved to a similar extent in both groups over the course of 12 weeks, those in the CGMS group had a significantly shorter duration of hypoglycemia than did those who self-monitored.

This amounted to sensor glucose level being at or below 60 mg/dL for a mean of 49.4 minutes per event in the CMBG group versus 81.0 minutes in the self-monitoring group.

Thus concluded, Dr. Mastrototaro, "an important aspect of this study is the reduced duration of hypoglycemia patients experienced when therapy adjustments were made using continuous glucose monitoring compared to standard fingerstick measurements."
Mayo Clin Proc 2004;79:1521-1526.

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