LTechnology is advancing rapidly and rapidly to improve the lifestyle and health of people with diabetes. According to data from the 29th National Congress Sid (Italian Society of Diabetologists) that took place recently in Rimini, 4 out of 10 people use continuous blood sugar monitoring, although “we are still far from the indications of the new Guidelines”, the experts explain.
Continuous blood glucose monitoring: the study
How many people in Italy choose to trust continuous blood glucose monitoring? A group of diabetes specialists took it on and looked at it further. 500 thousand patients. On the occasion of 29th SID National Congress (Italian Society of Diabetologists) study was presented at Diabetes and Sid/Amd/Siedp technologyjust posted.
“The results are encouraging if I think back to about 10 years ago and how less widespread diabetes management technology was. The photograph taken through the sample of patients we analyzed before the pandemic confirms the ongoing transformation. But at the same time he also feels the need to promote a technological optionwhat he helps better control of diabetesas well described in the latest Guidelines promulgated by the most important Italian Diabetes Scientific Societies in collaboration with the Istituto Superiore di Sanità”, explained Dario Pitocco, author of the study and Director of UOSA (Simple Autonomous Operative Units) Diabetology, Policlinico A Foundation Gemelli University of Rome.
How diabetes is managed in Italy
According to the portal health landscapeparticipated in the study more than 300 Italian diabetes centers and more than 500 thousand patients with diabetes. The data indicates that the 40% of patients with type 1 diabetes (more than 13 thousand) use systems of continuous monitoring, while the 23% trust the use of insulin pumps for the management of insulin therapy.
Children with diabetes choose technology
A percentage that increases when analyzing patients under 18 years of age, more than a third wear the sensor (35%), while more than half (57%) have decided to abandon the use of needles for blood glucose measurement to switch to CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitoring) technology mode. The study also shows that among the diabetes centers involved, 60% have a team of diabetologists, nurses and psychologists.
«A significant increase if we think of those who suffer from type 1 diabetes but who, especially among new generationsare proving to be prepared to receive solutions that help improve the quality of life”, adds Pitocco. “These results can be interpreted in a heterogeneous way: firstly it is data collected between 2018 and 2019, in a pre-pandemic era, and we also know how much additional momentum diabetes technology has had in the last 2/3 years. Use appears to be higher in younger age groups, perhaps more willing to embrace technological innovations. Despite the increase in the number of patients, the health workforce dedicated to diabetes care remains too few, especially for the majority of the population with type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes and the use of technology: recommendations
Recommendations on the use of technology in the case of type 1 diabetes have recently been published by theAssociation of Diabetologists (AMD)from the Italian Society of Diabetology (SID) and of Italian Society of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetology (SIEDP) and in collaboration with‘ISS (Higher Institute of Health).
«In the guidelines for type 1 diabetes, technology has assumed an increasingly central and essential role. The ability to have software that provides data on glycemic trend metrics has changed the way the diabetes visit is conducted.”
More and more doctors specializing in diabetes
«I perceive a clear evolution – continues Pitocco – between the growing demand of patients who are not satisfied with their quality of life and the response of trained colleagues who want to satisfy this physiological, psychological and even aesthetic need. We can intuit a clear evolution in the field of diabetology characterized on the one hand by the patient’s need to improve their quality of life and on the other by the need to diabetologist in possessing an increasingly technological preparation».