Diabetes Health in the News: Wearable Sensors May Reduce Hypoglycemia
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Hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, can be extremely dangerous for people ving with diabetes. In severe cases, insulin shock may occur, and the result may be unconsciousness or seizures. Fortunately, a new study has found that wearable sensors could reduce hypoglycemic episodes.
In one study, Swedish researchers examined how effective the Freestyle Libre wearable sensor was at monitoring hypoglycemia. They did this by monitoring 239 patients, and it was found that after patients started using the device, they experienced a significant increase in self-monitoring.
Participants that wore the monitor also experienced an almost immediate reduction of both day- and night-time hypoglycemia. In fact, adults with type 1 diabetes witnessed a 38% reduction in hypoglycemia time when they used the device.
This study was published in The Lancet on September 12, 2016
The main advantage is th capacity of showing trends in real time. This is an enormous advance versus the traditional BG meter which indicates a single point in time, incapable of showing the BG profile either going upwards or downwards.