A continuous glucose monitor benefits patients with diabetes in many ways

Continuous glucose monitoring automatically tracks blood glucose levels, also called blood sugar, throughout the day and night. You can see your glucose level anytime at a glance. You can also review how your glucose changes over a few hours or days to see trends. Seeing glucose levels in real-time can help you make more informed decisions throughout the day about how to balance your food, physical activity, and medicines.

The benefits have only been well measured in patients with type 1 diabetes or patients with type 2 treated with multiple daily insulin injections, referred to as prandial insulin.

"Not only does this trial prove the benefits of continuous glucose monitoring for these patients, a technology that hasn't been covered by many insurers for those with type 2 diabetes, but these benefits were seen across a broad spectrum of socio-economic status and racial backgrounds," said Busui.

What's most thrilling is that this work demonstrates that using continuous glucose monitoring is effective in substantially improving blood sugars levels and decreasing the risks of hypoglycemia in those that were randomized to use a continuous glucose monitor compared with the usual finger-prick," said Busui.

This may be a chance for wider coverage of this game-changing technology for all patients with diabetes. More patients can manage their diabetes if they have access to this resource, so it should be more affordable in the future to be used worldwide.

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