How Continuous Glucose Monitors Can Help You Improve Diabetes Control
Takeaways
A continuous glucose monitor (CGM) inserts a sensor under the skin to measure glucose levels continuously—providing readings in almost real-time.
CGMs offer 3 unique advantages over glucometers. They eliminate the pain and inconvenience of fingerprick tests, allow users—and their healthcare team—to identify glucose trends and patterns, and improve diabetes care outcomes.
Healthcare professionals can use CGMs' rich data to provide more targeted, actionable advice (e.g., specific dietary and medication tweaks) that'll help improve diabetes control.
While regular monitoring of glucose is key to good diabetes control, many patients with diabetes aren't sure how or where to start. Many find using a glucometer painful and inconvenient. To that end, NOVI recommends using tools like a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to monitor glucose conveniently and painlessly.
The data gathered by continuous glucose monitoring sensors can provide valuable insights into your daily lifestyle choices and better enabling healthcare professionals, like NOVI, to provide actionable diabetes management advice tailored to your unique needs.
Continue reading to get a rundown of some of the benefits of continuous glucose monitoring.
How a CGM Works to Track Your Glucose Levels
A continuous glucose monitor uses a sensor applied to the skin to measure glucose levels continuously every few minutes for readings that are as close to real-time. Therefore, it eliminates the need for regular finger-prick tests. As there are numerous CGM manufacturers, how each device works varies.
Some CGM devices, for instance, require you to scan the sensor with a handheld reader to collect your glucose readings, while others enable you to use your smartphone app, so you don't have to carry around an extra device.
3 Benefits of Using a CGM
1. Convenient Monitoring
CGMs essentially eliminate the need for regular finger-prick tests, allowing you to go about your daily activities without the constant, nagging thought of your next glucose level check. Once inserted to the skin (typically on the arm or abdomen) and correctly set up, a CGM will take your glucose readings throughout the day and night, for days at a stretch. That said, you do have to scan your sensor every eight hours, so the data from the sensor syncs with the receiver. Also, generally, the sensors have to be replaced every few days. The FreeStyle Libre, for example, lasts 14 days.
2. See The Full Picture
CGMs have revolutionised diabetes care. Compared to traditional finger-prick tests that only provide a single, "static" glucose reading at any one time, the CGM allows up to 1,440 data points in a day.
Besides collecting your glucose readings, some monitors also allow you to input personal details like what you eat at meals, what exercises you perform, and which medications you take. Together, this information will give you, your doctors, and your health advisors a comprehensive look at how your glucose levels trend in response to your lifestyle. You will be able to get highly personalized data that allows you and your healthcare provider to make better decisions with regard to optimizing your glucose.
3. Better Diabetes Control
Research has shown CGMs to be among the best outpatient management options for reducing A1C, the amount of haemoglobin in the blood that has glucose attached to it. Furthermore, other studies also show CGMs capable of increasing a user’s time-in-range (TIR) or the overall percentage of time spent in a healthy glucose range.
To top it all off, there’s even emerging evidence suggesting a link between the use of CGMs and fewer situations in which hypoglycemia creates the need for emergency care. Take this 2021 study published in JAMA, for instance. Included in the study were 41,753 patients with insulin-treated diabetes amongst which 3,806 initiated real-time CGM. After 12 months, the researchers found hypoglycemia rates declined among real-time CGM initiators from 5.1% to 3.0%. That's a stark contrast to that of non-initiators, who'd seen an increase from 1.9% to 2.3% instead.
How CGMs are Used in Health Care
Healthcare professionals can use the data you and your monitor collect to provide personalised advice and treatment. Examples include:
Suggesting food swaps that reduce blood sugar spikes
Recommending foods that help prevent blood sugar dips
Adjusting your medication based on your unique glucose patterns
Why NOVI Health Uses CGMs as Part of Our Care and Treatment Model
Ultimately, it's worth noting that around-the-clock glucose readings offered by CGMs serve little purpose in diabetes management unless you take action to improve your glucose levels. This is where a reliable training and coaching program comes into play.
At NOVI, we work hand-in-hand with patients to create a holistic treatment plan that best suits their unique situation and needs. We use CGMs throughout the process to better understand how patients' glucose levels change in response to their lifestyle choices: from food intake to physical activity. This, in turn, helps us provide more targeted, actionable advice that'll help improve diabetes control.
As a testament to NOVI's effectiveness, our coaching programs, for example, have resulted in a 0.9% reduction in the average blood glucose levels and a 5.8% loss in body weight over three months.
NOVI’s Health Coaching with CGM program in action
Mr. Png began with a blood sugar level of 12.9% - twice the normal range. He joined our NOVI Magnum program for help with controlling his blood sugar. Upon enrolling, Mr. Png received personalised care that accounted for his specific health needs.
Dietary tweaks and regular workout sessions (based on his customised exercise plan) lowered Mr. Png's sugar levels to 5.6% within nine months. His healthier body and lifestyle allowed him to feel better and more energetic every day.
You can read his full story here to learn how NOVI’s health coaching, together with the use of CGM sensors, changed his life.
Looking to better control your diabetes? Book your appointment for NOVI Magnum
This publication does not constitute an advertisement, and is intended solely for educational purposes. Please seek professional medical advice as to whether a health product would be appropriate for you.