Continuous glucose monitoring

Fingersticks are important - you've got to know what your blood glucose level is. But even frequent testing may not allow you to see what's really going on with your blood glucose 24-hours a day.

Fingerstick measurements are taken at points in time. They cannot indicate the direction or trend of blood glucose levels. So even the most motivated diabetes patients performing frequent tests may miss reoccurring highs or lows, particularly at night.

Endocrinologists prescribe recurring continuous glucose monitoring for their diabetes patients because it can give them a clearer picture of blood glucose throughout the day. Continuous glucose monitoring fills in the gaps left by fingersticks and can reveal hidden patterns, like frequent episodes of hypoglycaemia (low blood glucose).

Continuous glucose monitoring provides an average blood glucose measurement every 5 minutes, for up to 3 days at a time. That's 288 readings a day - up to 864 readings in 72 hours. At the end of your test period, you return to your Endocrinologist or Diabetes Educator so that you can go over the data the system has collected.

And for the first time, you and your Endocrinologist and Diabetes Educator can see what happens between fingersticks — giving you a more complete picture of your glucose profile.