CGM is expensive

I don't often write about my diabetes and that's mainly because there is not a lot to say about it really. There are highs and lows, there is testing and injections, but it's all routine and has been for about six years now. The last time I posted something diabetes related it was about my interest in Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM). It took me longer than planned to talk to my GP about it and then even longer for me to write this follow up post about it.

The one problem with the standard finger-prick blood test is that it only tells you your blood sugar level at that instant. They don't give you any information about whether it is going up or down, unless of course you checked every few minutes but that would start to hurt! So what are the alternatives? I've seen a few different ideas while browsing the web but CGM seem to be the only one that's actually available right now rather than an idea being researched. However even CGM is still bit too new and not quite ready as a long term solution. The main reason for that is the cost.

I was looking at the Guardian Real-Time System. It's not available on the NHS except for short term loans from the diabetes clinic. For a patient to buy one for themselves it would cost £2600. That's quite a lot but I suppose it's not too bad as a long term investment especially if it improves health. However that's just the base unit that reads the data wirelessly from the sensors. Unfortunately the sensors you attach to your body only last for six days and they cost nearly £40 each, so that's another £2300 per year to use the system.

Obviously it's a bit too soon for the technology to be widely used but it's definitely a field I will be keeping my eye on. At least until they figure out the artificial pancreas, which looks like it could well be within my lifetime.