CGM Improves Quality of Life

When I first read this short article outlining a study titled, “Continuous Glucose Monitoring Improves Quality of Life in T1DM” my initial reaction is….’thanks captain obvious”

The study was conducted by Dr. William Polonsky who I respect to the highest levels. The study was also funded by Dexcom, which is why the study was done, as a simple marketing angle for Dexcom.

Once I really started to think about how a CGM can improve the quality of someone’s life and how obvious that is, I then began to think about how it could in fact decrease the quality of life.

The study mentions that the group with the CGM’s showed a greater decrease in diabetes distress. I’m not 100% sure what distress is defined as, but I know when I wear a CGM, I feel more confident that I’m in more “control” of the situation because I have real-time data (or as close to real-time as I can get).

However, at the same time, it’s a constant reminder to me that I am connected to this device and I’m constantly looking at my watch or phone or PDM to see what my blood sugar levels are. That to me, gets tiring and I get burned out from it quickly and I’d say that it increases my diabetes distress.

The point I’m trying to make here is that sometimes I see the headlines of studies that are released and my initial reaction is exactly what I said above, “no crap, I could have told you that” but at the same time, I now realize that maybe it’s not as much of a no-brainer as I originally thought.

Another example is studies that have been released stating that insulin pump therapy may provide better results than MDI. (Don’t quote me on the exact study, but I know I’ve seen it out there). I would initially say, “yea, of course”. But then again, I’ve taken pump breaks and have done just as well on MDI as I did on the pump, so maybe it’s not as obvious as I once thought.

Bottom line is this… don’t be a headline reader. Click on the articles and read the information inside, the meat and potatoes if you will.