Having diabetes is a full-time job. You have to monitor your diet, activity, stress levels, sleep along with simultaneously calculating and managing carbohydrate to keep tabs on your blood sugar levels. In this article, we explain what CGM is and how you can use the data obtained to help you manage and navigate your journey towards diabetes reversal.
It is a process that continually monitors the glucose (sugar) in your blood through an external device that’s attached to your body, to give real-time updates on your blood glucose patterns and trends.
Blood Glucose Meters (BGM) measure glucose levels in your blood at a single moment in time and require deliberate action to get a reading,
CGMs measure the body’s glucose levels in real-time by sensing the glucose present in tissue fluid (also called interstitial fluid) through a sensor placed on your skin and transmits those readings to a small recording device called receiver. The CGM device has 3 components: the Sensor, Transmitter, and Receiver.
Developed by the International Diabetes Center, an Ambulatory Glucose Profile (AGP) report, is a standardized way of reporting continuous glucose monitor (CGM) data. It is a tool that provides a simplified way to look at data on your blood glucose patterns and trends based on at least 7 to 14 days of CGM data.
The AGP report allows your healthcare team to assess blood glucose levels, trends and patterns thus helping identify the times of day when glucose levels are consistently low, high, or fluctuating. The general goal for individuals with diabetes is to have glucose levels stay within the target range of 70 to 180 mg/dL for at least 70% of the day, and spending less than 3% of their time in hypoglycemia (under 70 mg/dL). This information from an AGP report helps your doctor set relevant goals for your diabetes management by providing care that's more precise and effective.
At the end of the day any data is meaningless if it cannot be interpreted correctly or not used by a provider to aid in diagnosis and a more focused treatment approach. Remember, CGM is a personal tool and not necessarily a single aspirational target or range that is universal. Your individual goals will depend on your needs, dietary and lifestyle habits, comorbidities and complications. Based on your unique presentation and recorded CGM data, your doctor will educate you on how to interpret and use your data to make the appropriate decisions to achieve your blood sugar goals.
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