A new glucose monitoring device reduced by more than one-third the time adults with well-controlled type 1 diabetes spent in hypoglycemia, according to new research published in The Lancet. The study, which enrolled adults with type 1 diabetes from 23 European diabetes centers, randomly assigned 120 participants to flash sensor-based glucose monitoring and 121 to self-monitoring of blood glucose with capillary strips.

The primary outcome was change in time to hypoglycemia between baseline and 6 months. In the intervention group, the mean time to hypoglycemia dropped from 3.38 h/day at baseline to 2.03 h/day at 6 months. The mean time to hypoglycemia in the control group decreased from 3.44 h/day to 3.27 h/day during the study period. The researchers report there were no device-related hypoglycemia or safety issues. There were 13 adverse events related to the sensor, including allergy events and insertion-site symptoms, and 10 serious adverse events (five in each group.) The researchers suggest that future studies should "assess the effectiveness of this technology in patients with less well controlled diabetes and in younger age groups."

A commentary accompanying the study, from researchers at Wellcome Trust-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science, University of Cambridge, notes that "flash glucose monitoring has the potential to enhance the management paradigm of type 1 diabetes care, empowering users' informed decision-making while reducing burden associated with self-blood glucose monitoring."

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