A coin-sized sensor steadies blood sugar for people with type 2 diabetes — even without insulin

A continuous glucose monitor is a small disc worn on the arm that checks blood sugar around the clock, so a person can see a rise or a dip as it happens instead of guessing from a few finger-pricks a day. Until now, doctors have mainly offered these sensors to people who use insulin. In a six-month trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, 283 adults with type 2 diabetes who were not on insulin either wore a Dexcom G7 sensor or received routine care. Average blood sugar, measured by a test called HbA1c, fell from 8.8% to 7.2% in the sensor group, compared with 8.7% to 8.0% with routine care — and sensor wearers spent about five extra hours a day in the healthy range. The gain showed up across ages, incomes and backgrounds, and 97% were still wearing their sensor when the trial ended. The trial was sponsored by the sensor's maker, Dexcom, and its lead researcher says the results support offering a monitor much earlier, before insulin is ever needed.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: tech innovation