EPT
Diabetes is widespread and quite the nasty disease. There's two types: Type I and II. With Type I diabetes, patient have a deficiency in insulin since the body destroys the beta-cells in the pancreas (ones that produce insulin) so the only option is to inject your body daily with insulin. You're essentially stuck with using insulin only for Type I diabetes.
With Type II diabetes, it's more about the sensitivities of cells to insulin since the body still produces insulin. For some people, diet and exercise are all they need while others need oral meds or might go the insulin route. In other words, you have more options at your disposal in Type II diabetes.
Regardless whether someone has type I or II diabetes, blood glucose monitoring especially at diagnosis when sugar levels are all over the place is very important. If you don't control your blood sugar levels, you can develop macrovascular and microvascular complications including but not limited to retinopathy, neuropathy, ischemic heart disease etc...
![[image loading]](http://img.medscape.com/slide/migrated/editorial/cmecircle/2003/2232/holman/slide04.gif)
High number with complications! (from medscape)
Testing:
A Type I diabetic usually checks his level several times a day. A Type II diabetic once stable can go days without checking. I believe the current guideline recommendation is at once 1-2 weeks (or longer) but would need to double check. This of course is when you are controlling through oral medications and not insulin. No two people are alike due to lifestyle among other things but that's the general overview.
So, why is this important? In order for someone to check their levels, they use what is called a lancet (device housing a small needle). You would place this lancet into a lancing device then use it to puncture your skin to get some blood. You would place a drop of blood on a testing strip that was already placed in a glucose meter and the meter will give you your blood glucose levels. If you're a type I diabetic, in a year's time, you're essentially pricking yourself about 1000 times or more. Anyone who has ever used a lancet will tell you that once or twice is enough so what's 1000 times like (and many more for upcoming years)?
![[image loading]](http://www.mybwmc.org/sites/all/modules/adam/graphics/images/en/19839.jpg)
A lot of stuff (and costs) to manage! (from mybwmc)
This brings me to the main purpose of this blog. A new device had been developed by Abbott that aims to eliminate all of that. No more pricking! No more lancets! Not only that, this new device can have patients constantly monitor their sugar levels bettering their management and reducing their complications. On top of all that (as if that isn't amazing by itself), it can calculate the A1C (a number used to assess your management). Some relevant quotes:
The Libre system uses an advanced, coin-size sensor that is worn on the arm for two weeks at a time. According to the instructions, a tiny “filament is inserted just under the skin and held in place with a small adhesive pad.”
It comes with a hand-held scanner which looks like a largish smartphone. Swiping the scanner over the sensor instantly measures your sugar, displaying the result in “less than one second.”
It comes with a hand-held scanner which looks like a largish smartphone. Swiping the scanner over the sensor instantly measures your sugar, displaying the result in “less than one second.”
Notably, the Libre device will even generate the single key number that doctors are after – the three-month sugar, known as the hemoglobin A1c. It is this number, how your sugar has done over the past three months, that doctors track to predict the complications of diabetes, which include eye, heart, kidney and nerve disease. In fact, it is this number that guides therapy, tells us if our patients are controlling their sugar or if we have to bump up the number of pills or prescribe insulin.
When I tell him about the new system, he finds it hard to believe. “You mean I might never have to poke myself again?”
http://m.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health/blood-sugar-testing-goes-wireless-painless-for-diabetes-patients/article21021695/?service=mobile
This is really exciting news considering how widespread diabetes is. Here's to hoping that it makes it's way around the world and gets adopted if it works as well as mentioned!
