Health

Monitor Can Make Life Easier For Diabetes Patients

DENVER (CBS4) ― An important new study found a better way for people with Type 1 diabetes to control their disease. It shows the future of diabetes management may be in a monitor.

Anna Chapin, 18, tests her blood sugar with a finger stick four to five times a day. She has Type 1 diabetes and must monitor her glucose level. She's dependent on insulin.

"It was really a struggle at first just getting used to it," Chapin said. "Now it's become just part of my daily life."

Promising research may make things a little easier for Chapin. In addition to the finger stick, for the last six months she's been wearing a continuous glucose monitor. It's a small sensor inserted in her back with a transmitter that sends glucose readings every five minutes. If things are off, it sounds an alarm.

"It's almost a guardian just to make sure I'm not going to hit an extreme either way and end up in the hospital for that," Chapin said.

Dr. Peter Chase co-authored the part of the study done at the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes.

"It will revolutionize diabetes management," Chase said.

He found that continuous glucose monitoring helps patients better control their blood sugar and that means better health.

"In the future they'll have a reduced likelihood of eye problems from diabetes, kidney problems from diabetes, nerve problems from diabetes, and cardiovascular, including heart attack problems from diabetes as they get in better control," Chase said.

For Chapin, wearing the monitor means facing the future with a little more confidence.

The Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes is one of the largest programs specializing in Type 1 diabetes research and care in the world.

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