Thursday poll: CGMS

28 October 2010
10 Comments

There are so many times in my life that I really wish I could just look down at a little monitor which would tell me what my BG was at that very moment. I thought such devices were Jetsons type stuff then I started to find out more and realised these little gadgets are available now and have been for a few years!

Points to note about the CGMS (Continuous Glucose Monitoring System) situation:

They are not at all subsidised at the moment in NZ.
They cost a lot of money to run (upwards of $60 a week, so I believe)
They have to be inserted beneath your skin, much like an insulin pump cannula would
They do not give

…

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By Nic on 28 October 2010 at 10.50 am
Posted in CGMS
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An end to finger pricking?

3 August 2010
3 Comments

I see that Reuters (and many other sites) have reported that an implant has been tested in pigs which measures and transmits blood glucose levels wirelessly. It’s not exactly mentioned where ultimately this would be transmitted to, but there is a mention of cellphones.

Apparently this has been tested in pigs and worked in one for a year, the other for ten months – wahey! The not-so-wahey bit is that the implant is actually 3.8 by 12.7 cm – where on earth are they implanting that puppy?! Crikey!

I have to say though I love the sound of this, taking the CGMS to the next level – no regular changeovers of sensors, no chance sensors can fall out, and no…

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By Nic on 3 August 2010 at 10.45 am
Posted in CGMS, Hypos & Hypers, Monitoring, Science & Research, Technology & Equipment
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Aaron: CGMS, here I come.

9 June 2010
12 Comments

I was at the outpatients clinic recently to see my diabetes nurse for our 6 monthly catch up and it couldn’t possibly have been better timing I have to say.

At the time I’d had a couple of rough weeks due to a lot of stress from various things that had been going on (which lead to this post) so it was good timing to be meeting with the diabetes nurse to be able talk over the hiccups and what might be going on to cause them. Lots and lots of highs had been causing me no end of problems and I needed to talk through some strategies to get things back on track.

One of the…

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By Aaron on 9 June 2010 at 9.30 am
Posted in CGMS, General, Medical Services, Monitoring, Technology & Equipment, Travel
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Awful for all concerned.

1 June 2010
7 Comments

I’ve done a few posts about diabetes and driving over the years. It’s a really tricky one, this topic. On the one hand I totally agree with the medical professional who taught me “Five before you drive” (as in 5mmol/l), but in reality this is not achieveable all the time, and there are going to be times when you get behind the wheel when your blood sugar is lower than that; or if you’re driving a longer distance you can have your BG plummet while you’re on the road.

This is why I was so sad when I read this article about a…

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By Nic on 1 June 2010 at 10.17 am
Posted in CGMS, Monitoring
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Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems.

15 April 2010
7 Comments

It’s been AGES since I posted about Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems (CGMS). This is not because I’ve lost interest: far from it. I am still very much looking foward to the day that all of us T1s have access to (and funding for; because let’s face it, there are very few of us who can afford to run one of these full time at the moment) these cool gadgets.

For those of you who are new to the concept, basically a CGMS is a unit which takes a blood sugar reading as frequently as every five minutes (some of them are slower, some faster). Per the picture on the right, all CGMS which are currently approved and on the market…

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By Nic on 15 April 2010 at 10.49 am
Posted in CGMS, Monitoring, Technology & Equipment
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