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Glucose sensors helpful for adults
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Medical devices that continuously monitor blood-sugar levels helped adults with the more severe form of diabetes control the condition in a study. Children and teenagers didn't reap the same benefits.
Patients with Type 1 diabetes don't produce the hormone insulin, used to convert blood sugar to energy. The devices from Fridley-based Medtronic Inc., DexCom Inc., and Abbott Laboratories, a small part of the $6 billion glucose monitoring market, are an advance over the traditional finger stick, used for decades to measure the amount of sugar in the blood. Both let patients know when their levels get too high, requiring a shot of insulin.
The findings in the New England Journal of Medicine may help the companies win broader insurance coverage for adults who want the devices, which cost $1,000 or more. The study was less positive for younger patients, failing to find a benefit in teenagers and young adults. Less than one-third of patients ages 15 to 24 wore the devices an average of six days a week or more, limiting their usefulness, compared with 83 percent of adults.
"This is a powerful tool that holds the potential to help many, many people with diabetes, but there may be barriers to optimal use," said researcher Aaron Kowalski, director of strategic research projects at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. "We just need to get the kids to wear it, be aware of the data and know what to do with it."
The study, funded by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, was presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Rome. The devices aren't covered by the U.S. government's health insurance programs for the poor or elderly, though several insurers, among them Humana Inc. and WellPoint Inc., have recently decided to pay for them, Kowalski said.
The devices are intended for the 3 million Americans with Type 1 diabetes who need numerous daily injections of insulin. They monitor blood-sugar levels via a sensor inserted under the skin, sending the readings to a pager-sized device that gives a snapshot of the current reading and tracks changes over time. They also sound an alarm if the blood sugar, or glucose, levels become dangerously high or low.
"This study emphasizes that patients can achieve greater diabetes control without the fear of increased hypoglycemia risk," Chris O'Connell, president of Medtronic's diabetes business, said in a prepared statement.
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