"New Glucose Monitors Taking The Pain, Unpredictability Out Of Diabetes" - Dr. Max Gomez
Continuous glucose monitors, or CGMs, have been around for some years. The devices were bulky to wear, had to be calibrated often and had limited ability to track and report blood sugars. Now a new generation CGM is go good, many doctors say every diabetic should be using it. Keeping blood sugar within a narrow range is critical to avoid the long term complications of diabetes: blindness, kidney damage, heart attacks, strokes and amputations. For years that meant finger sticks to check blood sugar, a dozen or more times a day. “You’ve got to pull out a whole bunch of stuff and the fingersticks hurt, they hurt more than injections for people,” said Carol Levy, MD, CDE, director of the Mount Sinai Diabetes Center, and associate professor of endocrinology, diabetes and bone disease at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The G6 CGM constantly uploads blood sugar readings to a smartphone, and from there to anyone a person decides should know the wearer’s levels. “It’s the loss of fear of going to sleep at night worrying whether your blood sugar will be too high or too low,” said Dr. Levy.
- Carol Levy, MD, CDE, Associate Professor, Endocrinology, Diabetes and Bone Disease, Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science, Director, Mount Sinai Diabetes Center, T1 Diabetes Clinical Research, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai