BeingDiabetic.co.nz » CGMS

Thursday poll: CGMS

Nic — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 22:50:03 +0000

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

…

An end to finger pricking?

Nic — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 22:45:52 +0000

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…

Aaron: CGMS, here I come.

Aaron — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 21:30:35 +0000

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 options…

Awful for all concerned.

Nic — Mon, 31 May 2010 22:17:14 +0000

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 diabetic man…

Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems.

Nic — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 22:49:29 +0000

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…

Interesting research re insulin pumps, multiple injections, CGMS.

Nic — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:43:17 +0000

I’ve just come across two interesting pieces of research.

One:

A trial done in Norway between 1995 to 2004, involving 80 kids and adolescents using both multiple daily injections (MDI) and insulin pumps. The trial was set up to study the difference in HbA1c; incidence of hospitalisation for ketoacidosis and severe hypoglycaemia; and patient preference.

It was shown that the HbA1c levels of the patients decreased over time, which also coincided with the adoption of insulin pump therapy (76% of the patients were on pumps by the end of the ten years – unfortunately it doesn’t say what percentage were using them at the start). However, the adoption of insulin pumps didn’t seem to have an effect on the number…

A new artificial pancreas in the making.

Nic — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:59:28 +0000

There’s been plenty of talk over the last few years about ‘closed loop’ systems and artificial pancreases. Talk and a bit of action but nothing conclusive just yet.

However, the latest announcement that the JDRF are pouring $US 8 million into a closed loop system between Animas and Dexcom (CGMS) sounds like great news to me.

Details over at Diabetes Mine…

Interesting to hear they’d hope to have a product in market in four year’s time.

My questions are two-fold.

1. Does that mean it could get released in the States in 2014 but crawl its way…

Aren’t people lovely part II: cakes and plastic cows.

Nic — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 08:06:54 +0000

This week, my Mum was showing some of the women at her work the latest issue of diabetes magazine, which I have an article published in. The article talks about my experiences with the Dexcom CGMS (see all the posts on this here) and mentions that I’m moving to a pump. Mum’s talked to these women before about the expense of the pump and how I’m still paying it off, and one of her work friends piped up all of a sudden and said “Right – this is what’s going to happen – we’re going to all cobble together and bake lots of cakes and sell them on behalf of your daughter and raise the $500…

dia-Driver

Nic — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 01:18:36 +0000

So I see someone has been working on a car which reads your blood glucose levels via an under the skin insert and a Bluetooth transmitter, here.

Interesting – but I have a couple of questions:

With the advent and increasing popularity of continuous blood glucose monitors, won’t we be able to have this functionality no matter what car we drive? Does it stop you from driving if your glucose is too low or high when you start up the car? (a la a drink-driving gauge) What does this car look like? (I bet it’s uuuug-ly)

Good point to raise though. I lived…