Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs)

Continuous Glucose Monitors: Even More of a Good Thing

For a while now, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) has been conducting clinical trials on the effectiveness of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) for people with type 1 diabetes. Last year, they issued their first two reports on their findings, showing that CGMs can improve control even for people who already have A1c's below 7%. That information has already had a powerful impact: It's convinced a number of large health insurers (including Aetna, Cigna, Kaiser Permanente, United Healthcare, and Wellpoint) to cover CGMs for type 1s, and it's led to the inclusion of CGMs in national standards of care for type 1 diabetes.

6 comments - Sep 17, 2009 -

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CGM Continues to Elicit Strong Opinions

In our last issue, we published a letter from reader Sheila Payne, who wrote that we had been far too positive about continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) in our June/July article Get the Facts on Continuous Glucose Monitoring. But her opinion provoked a stack of letters from people who believe that the benefits of CGM substantially outweigh its negatives. To let you in on the debate, we are reprinting Ms. Payne's thought-provoking letter here, followed by two equally thoughtful responses from readers.

12 comments - Aug 28, 2009 -

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Surfing with Type 1

Initially diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, Rob subsequently discovered that he had type 1. Knowing that he needed to exercise more, he returned to professional surfing. Today, he is a sponsored professional athlete who uses a CGM.

10 comments - Aug 7, 2009 -

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Letters to the Editor : August-September, 2009

Mon Has CGM Concerns

0 comments - Aug 1, 2009 -

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Get the Facts on Continuous Glucose Monitoring

Until now, care for insulin-dependent diabetes has focused on the delivery of insulin combined with frequent blood glucose (BG) testing. Keeping your A1c down is, and always will be, the name of the game. But numerous studies have shown us in the last few years that having access to continuous glucose data has a huge impact. How you deliver the insulin doesn't necessarily matter-you can use a pump, a syringe, or an insulin pen, it's knowing your personal BG trends that makes all the difference.

11 comments - Jun 29, 2009 -

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Baxter Teams with MedicAlert to Add Glucose Monitoring Alert for Dialysis Patients

Baxter International, Inc., which produces the peritoneal dialysis solution Extraneal (icodextrin), has teamed with MedicAlert Foundation International to encourage peritoneal dialysis patients to add a warning to their MedicAlert bracelets regarding the fact that icodextrin may cause false readings on non-specific glucose monitors.

0 comments - Feb 5, 2009 -

Study Shows CGMs Help Type 1s Achieve Better Blood Sugar Control-Especially Those Over 25

A study sponsored by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation confirms that many older type 1 patients achieve better control of their blood sugar levels by using a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) than by conventional monitoring with a meter and finger pricks.

Comments 1 comment - Sep 11, 2008 -

Out of the Pot and Into the Fire: Pressuring Insurance Companies to Cover Continuous Glucose Monitors

When Gina Capone, a thirty-something type 1 for eight years, got married this year, she and her husband decided it was time to start thinking about having a baby. Like all women with diabetes who are planning a pregnancy, Gina needs her A1c to be as low as possible in order to prevent complications for her and her baby. This strict control can be very challenging and time-consuming, requiring up to 20 blood sugar tests a day.

3 comments - Sep 4, 2008 -

Prodigy® Voice Receives A+ Award from the National Federation of the Blind

When the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) hosted its convention June 30 through July 5 in Dallas, Texas, it awarded the Access Plus (A+) Award to Diagnostic Devices, Inc., makers of Prodigy® blood glucose monitoring systems. “The A+ Award program was designed to reward companies that make consumer products that are truly accessible for blind people,” said Eileen Rivera Ley, Director of Diabetes Initiatives for the NFB. The A+ Award is for products that afford the blind the same convenience and features available to everyone else and is awarded only to products and services that meet the highest standards of accessibility.

0 comments - Aug 5, 2008 -

New Yorkers, Speak Up! The Fight for CGMS Coverage Continues

If you are a New Yorker and have been denied CGMS coverage by insurance or would like coverage for a continuous glucose monitoring system, Gina Capone, founder of Diabetes TalkFest, wants you to Raise your Voice.

3 comments - Jul 25, 2008 -

Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs)

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