Steady glucose screens are now not only for individuals with diabetes. In March of final yr, DexCom gained FDA clearance for its over-the-counter CGM, after which a few months later, its major competitor Abbott earned clearance for 2 over-the-counter CGM gadgets of its personal.
The FDA cleared these over-the-counter CGMs to be used in individuals with and with out diabetes, however questions nonetheless stay about how clinicians and people can interpret the info that these gadgets acquire. To discover what CGM information actually means outdoors of diabetes care, researchers at Mass General Brigham in Boston performed a examine. The results, revealed this week, discovered that CGM readings align nicely with commonplace measures in individuals with diabetes however are much less dependable in these with out the situation.
The examine examined information from 972 individuals ages 40 and older. Inside this group, 421 individuals had sort 2 diabetes, 319 had prediabetes, and 232 had regular blood sugar ranges.
The researchers discovered that whereas CGM metrics like common glucose and time in vary intently matched commonplace measures for individuals with diabetes, these identical metrics have been much less constant for these with prediabetes or regular blood sugar.
These findings recommend that CGMs could also be most helpful for monitoring short-term way of life results slightly than offering a definitive scientific image, mentioned Dr. Jorge Rodriguez, an inside drugs doctor at Mass Normal Brigham and one of many examine’s authors.
He famous that CGMs may help individuals see how way of life elements corresponding to food regimen, exercise and sleep have an effect on glucose in actual time.
Dr. Rodriguez mentioned he has witnessed this firsthand, having worn an over-the-counter CGM himself and by no means having been recognized with diabetes or prediabetes.
“There was at some point after I ate a soup. I assumed I used to be being wholesome by having a soup. Then it seems the soup had rice noodles. I didn’t know these rice noodles have been simply going to drive my sugar up — and it was up for fairly a while. For some motive, I didn’t register that this was not a fantastic factor to eat from a glycemic standpoint. That was a studying level for me,” he defined.
He identified that additional analysis is required into consumer-oriented CGMs.
Mass Normal Brigham’s examine was cross-sectional, which means that the analysis group gathered information from individuals at a single cut-off date slightly than following them over months or years. Dr. Rodriguez mentioned clinicians want extra longitudinal analysis earlier than they perceive if CGM patterns in non-diabetic sufferers can predict long-term outcomes like diabetes, coronary heart illness, or stroke.
Picture: Yana Iskayeva, Getty Photographs
