The specialists of the Pediatric Endocrinology Research Laboratory headed by Irina Nikitina are clinically testing the protocol “Providing primary specialized medical care to children and adolescents with type 1 DM using the Flash Glucose Monitoring System”.
Type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic disease and one of the most common endocrine metabolic disorders affecting children and adolescence across the world.
In recent years, the management of diabetes has benefited greatly from the development of technologies allowing specialists to get as close as possible to achieving normoglycemia or bringing glycemia close to the healthy levels in DM patients. Modern recombinant human insulin preparations, a basal-bolus insulin regimen and continuous glucose monitoring are used for this purpose.
Until recently, the traditional method of measuring glucose levels using a blood glucose meter was used for self-monitoring. However, systems for continuous glucose monitoring began to appear, including the FreeStyle Libre Flash Glucose Monitoring System with the capability to show glucose level changes during the day. Using this system, patients and doctors can better control diabetes.
Until 2018, the FreeStyle Libre Flash Glucose Monitoring System was available only abroad. In October 2018, the Russian version of the system appeared. From that moment on, pediatric endocrinologists of Almazov Centre have been clinically testing the protocol «Providing primary specialized medical care to children and adolescents with type 1 DM using the Flash Glucose Monitoring System».
During the clinical testing period, the continuous glucose monitoring system was used to perform blood glucose measurement in 45 children, and 10 of them have already completed the study. In the course of the work, the dynamic changes of the metabolic profile were evaluated. After 3 months of use, glycated hemoglobin decreased in 50% of children, the majority (60%) increased the time spent in the target glycemic range, and in 80% of cases, a decrease in the frequency and duration of hypoglycemia was observed. The studies also showed a general tendency toward a significant reduction in the total daily dose of insulin.
The results of the study show that the FreeStyle Libre Flash Glucose Monitoring System improves the glycemic profile in children, increases the time spent in the target glycemic range, reduces the frequency and duration of hypo- and hyperglycemia, and allows the doctors to flexibly adjust the tactics of insulin therapy without significantly changing the daily doses in an outpatient setting.