Further, patients in the continuous-monitoring group had meaningful decreases in excursions in glucose below 70 and over 190, yielding significantly less glycemic instability and fewer "swings." Such variability sometimes results in unexpected, costly visits to the emergency room to treat severe hypoglycemia and diabetic ketoacidosis. In particular, results showed that both the number of hypoglycemic events as well as the duration of events were significantly reduced.

, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in July and by the European Union earlier this year. . It is expected to enable patients to view glucose trends throughout the day and night, and to determine how diet, exercise, and medication affect glucose levels. A limited launch in a small number of U.S. cities this fall is planned for the device, which is indicated for use in patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes who are 18 years and older and need improved glucose control.

The major advantage of this technology, he commented, was that patients could make changes to therapy much earlier, with preventive actions — up until now, this has been impossible. When asked whether there was a concern that patients might have too much data or might "over-correct," Dr. Bolinder said that there was an initial concern by some that this might be true, but the study showed that the opposite was the case, that hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia were reduced as a result of the trial.