Research Round Up

Research Round Up - diabetes treatment, patient education and hypoglycemia awareness, and hypoglycaemia and the brain

Martin Gilmour of the Diabetic Hypoglycemia Editorial Team

Diabetic Hypoglycemia January 2009, Volume 1, Issue 3: page 10-12

This issue’s research roundup focuses on new research in the topics of diabetes treatment, patient education and hypoglycemia awareness, and hypoglycemia and the brain.

Diabetes treatment

In a recent paper, Hirsch et al. evaluated the effectiveness and safety of combining an insulin pump with real-time continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). This device could have the potential to improve glycemic control, especially in patients who have difficulty monitoring their own blood glucose or who have erratic or unpredictable food intake and activity.

Hirsch et al. enrolled 146 patients with type 1 diabetes (initial A1C level of at least 7.5%) in a 6-month, randomized, active-controlled, multicentre study. Patients were randomly allocated to treatment with either the Paradigm® 722 insulin pump plus a separate real-time continuous glucose monitor (sensor group), or the Paradigm® 715 insulin pump plus self-monitoring of blood glucose (control group). Both groups received training in intensive diabetes management, while sensor group patients also received training in the use of CGM data.