Optimizing diabetes management: Comprehensive analysis of glucose monitorring data and use of better metrics for glycemic control

Abstract

Current diabetes treatment relies primarily on hemoglobin A1C measurement to assess quality of glycemic control and to adjust therapy. Recent studies have revealed that A1C has some important limitations, and it conveys a rather complex message. This has to be taken into consideration for adjustment of diabetes therapy. To significantly improve diabetes treatment, both key metrics for glycemic control on a day-to-day basis and more advanced monitoring methods are needed. In addition to traditional discontinuous monitoring methods, continuous glucose sensing has become an indispensable tool to reveal insufficient glycemic management in patients with complicated diabetes. Several continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems, which have shown usefulness in clinical practice, are currently on the market. The widespread clinical application of CGM is still hampered by the lack of generally accepted measures for assessment of glucose profiles and standardized reporting of glucose data.