Diabetes Treatment Review

The use of blood glucose monitoring in hypoglycemia

Martin Gilmour of the Diabetic Hypoglycemia Editorial Team

Diabetic Hypoglycemia May 2009, Volume 2, Issue 1: page 18-19

Abstract

Blood glucose monitoring is an integral part of the management of diabetes. It offers an immediate assessment of blood glucose levels that can be used to guide therapy, detect hypoglycemia and provide important feedback on individual glucose control. There is considerable demand for support and education for self-monitoring patients, and in the UK, both Diabetes UK and NICE have issued guidance on the use of self/home monitoring devices.

This review focuses on three recent publications involving the use of blood glucose monitoring in the management of type 1 and type 2 diabetes. The first paper describes current practices of blood glucose self-monitoring in patients with type 2 diabetes, the second reports on the numerical and clinical accuracy of four different models of continuous glucose monitoring device, while the third assesses the value of CGM in the treatment of type 1 diabetes.

The review concludes that these studies provide strong evidence of the value of continuous glucose monitoring and self-monitoring in patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, as intensive monitoring generally leads to better glycemic control. It also highlights the importance of educating self-monitoring patients to accurately identify hypoglycemic episodes.

Keywords: blood glucose monitoring, glycemic control, continuous glucose monitoring, self-monitoring