Continuous Monitoring Helps Glycemic Control in Diabetics

MONDAY, Sept. 8 (HealthDay News) -- Adults with type 1 diabetes whose glucose levels are continuously monitored achieve better glycemic control than those who do not, but there are still barriers to overcome in continuously monitoring children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes, according to a report published online Sept. 8 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

William V. Tamborlane, M.D., of Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn., and colleagues from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Continuous Glucose Monitoring Study Group conducted a multicenter clinical trial of 322 adults and children who were already being intensively treated for type 1 diabetes. The subjects were randomized to a continuous monitoring group or a control group with at-home monitoring using a blood glucose meter. The study ran for 26 weeks.

Among patients aged 25 and older, those in the continuous-monitoring group attained significantly better glycated hemoglobin levels than those in the control group, but the results for those aged 15 to 24 and 8 to 14 were similar for both groups, the researchers report.

"The results of our study indicate that continuous glucose monitoring improves glycated hemoglobin levels and may enhance management of type 1 diabetes in adults who have the motivation to use this technology and the capability to incorporate it into their own daily diabetes management," the authors write. "Further work is needed to identify and address the lack of effectiveness of continuous glucose monitoring in children and adolescents."

Several of the study authors report financial relationships with the pharmaceutical industry.

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