Ellen
11-23-2007, 07:08 AM
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2007/11/22/professional/links/20071122clin011.html
Clinical
Daily continuous glucose monitoring feasible in children
Last Updated: 2007-11-22 7:00:07 -0400 (Reuters Health)
By Megan Rauscher
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Daily use of a continuous glucose monitor in children with type 1 diabetes is feasible and acceptable for patients and parents, and improves glycemic control, according to findings reported in the Journal of Pediatrics for October.
In the study, 30 children ranging in age from 4 to 17 years who were type 1 diabetics and using an insulin pump were asked to use the FreeStyle Navigator (Abbott) daily for 13 weeks.
Dr. Bruce Buckingham of Stanford Medical Center, California, told Reuters Health that "most subjects used the Navigator on an almost daily basis, parents and patients were very satisfied with the data provided by the device, there was a significant decrease in the proportion of glucose values above the target range, and glucose variability was reduced."
Improvements in glycemic control were seen immediately after initiation of continuous glucose monitoring and were sustained for the duration of the 13-week study, he also reported.
The device uses an electrochemical sensor that is inserted subcutaneously and measures intersitial glucose every 60 seconds. It has alarms for hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia and shows trends in glucose rate of change.
The children in the study already had good control of their diabetes (mean HbA1c = 7.1%) and during the study they achieved a decrease in their HbA1c to 6.8%, "without an increase in hypoglycemia despite children doing 35% fewer home finger-stick blood tests," Dr. Buckingham said.
Almost all children elected to continue to use of the FreeStyle Navigator device after the first 13 weeks of the study.
One potential concern with real-time continuous glucose monitoring, Dr. Buckingham pointed out, is that patients and parents might not be able to deal with all the additional data provided by the devices. "Just the opposite was observed in this study," he said. "Subjects and their parents felt that the Navigator made it easier to make insulin dose adjustments and diabetes management decisions and there was reduced family conflict."
The results of this study provide "compelling evidence that support the feasibility of a large-scale, long-term trial of continuous glucose monitoring in children with type 1 diabetes," Dr. Buckingham concluded.
J Pediatr (http://www.mosby.com/jpeds) 2007;151:388-393 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?orig_db=PubMed&db=PubMed&cmd=Search&defaultField=Title+Word&term=J+Pediatr%5Bjour%5D+AND+151%5Bvolume%5D+AND+3 88%5Bpage%5D+AND+2007%5Bpdat%5D).
Clinical
Daily continuous glucose monitoring feasible in children
Last Updated: 2007-11-22 7:00:07 -0400 (Reuters Health)
By Megan Rauscher
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Daily use of a continuous glucose monitor in children with type 1 diabetes is feasible and acceptable for patients and parents, and improves glycemic control, according to findings reported in the Journal of Pediatrics for October.
In the study, 30 children ranging in age from 4 to 17 years who were type 1 diabetics and using an insulin pump were asked to use the FreeStyle Navigator (Abbott) daily for 13 weeks.
Dr. Bruce Buckingham of Stanford Medical Center, California, told Reuters Health that "most subjects used the Navigator on an almost daily basis, parents and patients were very satisfied with the data provided by the device, there was a significant decrease in the proportion of glucose values above the target range, and glucose variability was reduced."
Improvements in glycemic control were seen immediately after initiation of continuous glucose monitoring and were sustained for the duration of the 13-week study, he also reported.
The device uses an electrochemical sensor that is inserted subcutaneously and measures intersitial glucose every 60 seconds. It has alarms for hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia and shows trends in glucose rate of change.
The children in the study already had good control of their diabetes (mean HbA1c = 7.1%) and during the study they achieved a decrease in their HbA1c to 6.8%, "without an increase in hypoglycemia despite children doing 35% fewer home finger-stick blood tests," Dr. Buckingham said.
Almost all children elected to continue to use of the FreeStyle Navigator device after the first 13 weeks of the study.
One potential concern with real-time continuous glucose monitoring, Dr. Buckingham pointed out, is that patients and parents might not be able to deal with all the additional data provided by the devices. "Just the opposite was observed in this study," he said. "Subjects and their parents felt that the Navigator made it easier to make insulin dose adjustments and diabetes management decisions and there was reduced family conflict."
The results of this study provide "compelling evidence that support the feasibility of a large-scale, long-term trial of continuous glucose monitoring in children with type 1 diabetes," Dr. Buckingham concluded.
J Pediatr (http://www.mosby.com/jpeds) 2007;151:388-393 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?orig_db=PubMed&db=PubMed&cmd=Search&defaultField=Title+Word&term=J+Pediatr%5Bjour%5D+AND+151%5Bvolume%5D+AND+3 88%5Bpage%5D+AND+2007%5Bpdat%5D).