Is continuous glucose monitoring useful?
While these are significant issues, the CGMS does have value in certain situations. As the authors of this paper point out, the CGMS is not intended to measure single blood glucose levels or to detect single problem readings. Rather, it should be used as a tool for recognizing blood glucose patterns or exploring particular problems. The authors give four examples of situations in which the CGMS was used effectively: a girl with unrecognized severe night-time hypoglycemia, a girl who benefited from assessment of her glucose pattern before and after starting insulin pump therapy, a 15-year old boy with unstable glucose levels associated with an eating disorder, and a 17-year-old girl with a very irregular eating and exercise pattern. In these cases, the physicians used the CGMS to confirm night-time hypoglycemia, to compare glucose patterns before and after starting a particular regimen, and to educate teenagers about the effects their eating patterns, activity, or insulin regimen may be
