“The first time I took the test they said I was completely fine. Luckily my parents insisted on another test and my sugar was 636 – more than six times what it should have been,” said the 32-year-old. Say. After her diagnosis, her parents would write down her blood sugar levels in a notebook. By the mid-90s, they saved up only for a computer to use Excel to track her sugar Today, Lalwani is dependent on a continuous glucose monitor (CGM), a patch on her arm that measures her glucose every 15 minutes. “I think for the last 20 years of my life, I’ve been rocking. was living downstairs. Even if I tested 10 times a day, I still had 10 data points. Now, I have 96 readings throughout the day,” she adds.
CGM Help diabetics know when their sugar is rising or falling, how long their glucose is within normal limits and how their body reacts to different foods, exercise, and even their sleep cycle Has been doing.
Some versions of CGMs are designed for patients – they deliver real-time data – while others require the help of their doctor. Dr. Amrita Ghosh, Consultant Diabetologist Fortis CDOC Hospital, say adding a version of the machine requires doc. “The patient then comes back in three or seven days and it is downloaded in the office. We look at the charts together,” she says. “I’ve seen it work for most people, because they get a pictorial representation that helps to change the behavior. They can see that increasing their steps or reducing their carbohydrate intake has helped, so they continue.”
Many people don’t even like pin prix and prefer this option, says Dr. Ghosh. One such person is Adarsh Munjal, advertising professional and food blogger who goes by The Big Bhookad. Munjal lost his father to diabetes in 2015 and realized that he too was borderline diabetic. He is in remission now, but used a CGM a few years back. “A glucometer in my home and office drawer came in handy. But prickling is not something that is pleasant. I suffer from anxiety and am a nail biter. This is more troublesome because my fingers are already going through a lot of trauma. The CGM was very helpful in that,” says the Mumbai resident. It also helped them to realize the foods they needed to reduce their consumption. “I try to avoid white flour completely. I don’t even have a huge sweet tooth anymore. I’ve compromised on quantity—I savor everything, but only eat what I need.”
Even for people who have had diabetes for a long time, knowing what works and what doesn’t can be challenging. Harsh KediaA Mumbai-based chef says, “I have been diabetic for 10 years and still find it challenging to understand which carbs work and what don’t for your body. I didn’t know that up to a certain amount of rice was good for me. OK. Some sauces, for example, like marinara Were fine for me too, as was a certain amount of salt,” says the 24-year-old. “The second thing I noticed was my sleep cycle and how it affected my sugar levels. When I don’t sleep well, there’s a spike.”
Some CGMs come with a machine called a reader, using which one scans their patch to see their level. Another device Lalwani has added to his CGM is a transmitter that allows his levels to be sent directly to his phone. She is the founder of the Blue Circle Diabetes Foundation, which provides support for people with diabetes. The Foundation has also built an app that syncs with the CGM. “Using it, you can log what you ate, the amount of exercise you’ve done, and you can send your levels to your doctor. You can even add ‘followers’ so that family members can follow you. to track levels,” she says. It came in handy recently when his mother woke him up and asked him to eat something. “I would have slept through hypoglycaemia otherwise. When I was a kid, it would have been amazing to have these technical interventions,” she says.
Another incident that stuck with her is in 2019 when she competed in the Oxfam Trail Walker, a 100km excursion. “I actually had a team where we were all type 1 diabetics. The whole thing took 48 hours and we were all wearing CGMs.” When one of his team members had glucose crash, he received several calls asking him to give him some glucose.
Aditya Mendonka, a 30-year-old marketer and type 2 diabetic triathlete, says, “I have been using CGM since November. It helped me see that what our parents and grandparents did – eat dinner and then go for a walk – was just right. They did this because they were taught by their ancestors. Most of us would love to chill on the couch, but it really helps a lot to walk after a meal.”
He adds that CGMs are currently expensive, which makes it difficult for many to access them. “I expect that as the technology becomes more common, prices will come down. This gives patients some break, agrees Dr. Ghosh. “There is a price constraint. Others don’t want to have a machine attached to them all the time. , or they say they don’t want to know what’s happening to them all the time. But as awareness grows, acceptance is certainly increasing.”
To raise awareness about the importance of diabetes management and glucose monitoring, The Times of India and Abbott have come together to launch Let’s Fight Diabetes.
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