Study shows CGM devices also benefit people with type 1 diabetes

Suggests monitors help maintain tight control and reduce long-term risks of diabetes, while lowering incidence of dangerous low blood sugar events

NEW YORK, May 27, 2009 – People with type 1 diabetes who have already been successful in achieving recommended blood sugar goals can further benefit from using continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices, according to results of a major multi-center clinical trial by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Findings of the study were published online by the journal Diabetes Care, available at http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/early/recent.

According to the JDRF study, using CGM devices enables people who have achieved excellent control (with HbA1c levels below 7 percent) to continue to tightly manage their diabetes while cutting down on the frequency of low blood sugars, called hypoglycemia. Research has shown that good blood sugar control is a key factor in reducing the risk of the devastating long-term complications of the disease, such as blindness and kidney disease – but that the fear of low blood sugar emergencies often prevents many people from achieving tight control, and remains a constant concern for those who manage their diabetes well. The landmark Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) showed that with intensive insulin therapy, excellent blood glucose control was obtained, but at the expense of a considerable increase in hypoglycemia. Today, the JDRF study has shown that, with CGM, hypoglycemia can be reduced while maintaining excellent blood sugar control.

The CGM study was a randomized and controlled trial involving 129 adults and children ranging in age from 8 to 69-years-old at 10 sites, including the Atlanta Diabetes Associates, the Joslin Diabetes Center, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Nemours Children's Clinic – Jacksonville, FL, the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University, the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes at the University of Colorado Denver, the University of Iowa, the University of Washington, and Yale University, and coordinated by the Jaeb Center for Health Research in Tampa, Florida. Participants all had good diabetes control when they enrolled in the trial, and were randomly assigned to either a group that used CGM devices or one using standard finger-stick glucose testing for 26 weeks.