More Help Managing Disease

Wednesday, March 1, 2006

eo OO Heaith NEWS caN FDA Approves New Continuous Glucose-Monitoring System, Offering Diabetes Sufferers More Help Managing Disease (NAPSA)—With almost 21 million Americans suffering from diabetes, the disease is fast becoming the country’s next epidemic. While nearly two-thirds of the children and adults with diabetes have been diagnosed, unfortunately, an estimated 6.2 million people are unaware that they have the disease. Diabetes can lead to serious consequences and premature death, but patients with diabetes can take action to control the disease and lower the risk of complications. Once diagnosed, one of the biggest challenges is making sure patients check their glucose (blood-sugar) levels. If patients with diabetes allow their levels to rise and fall without control, it can lead to severe consequences. Good diabetes control can reduce the likelihood of certain long-term complications, including blindness, kidney failure, amputation, impotence and heart disease. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved the Guardian REAL-Time System, a doctor-prescribed continuous glucose-monitoring (CGM) system. Unique features only available with the Guardian REAL-Time System include alarm systems designed to warn patients of significant blood-sugar changes before they become dangerous. “The real-time information and trend data provided by the Guardian REAL-Time System are designed to help patients more tightly control their glucose levels,” said Alan Marcus, M.D., FACP, FACE, global director of medical affairs and chief officer of Medtronic Diabetes. “Patients can now see the exact effect that diet, exercise, medication and sleep have on their glucose values in three-, six-, 12- and 24-hour increments.” The Guardian REAL-Time Sys- tem glucose sensoris a tiny electrode inserted under the skin that measures glucose levels, providing G The Guardian REAL-Time System glucose sensor is a tiny electrode inserted underthe skin that measures glucoselevels, providing patients with better protection against frequent blood-sugar highs and lows. patients with better protection against frequent blood-sugar highs andlows. Developed by Minneapolisbased medical technology company Medtronic, Inc., the Guardian REAL-Time System is indicated for continuous or periodic monitoring of glucose levels of adults (ages 18 and older) with diabetes for the purposes of improving diabetes management. The Guardian REAL-Time System sensoris connected to a transmitter that sends glucose readings every five minutes to a monitor, which displays up to 288 readings a day—nearly 100 times more information than conventional monitoring based on three fingersticks a day. The Guardian REAL-Time System will be made available nationwide by Spring 2007. While insulin pump therapy is currently prescribed for the Type 1 diabetes population, the Guardian REAL-Time System may be more in demand by the larger Type 2 population, which consists of 90 to 95 percentof all diagnosed cases of diabetes worldwide. Patients and physicians can obtain more information by visiting www.minimed.com or calling (800) MINIMED (800-646-4633), and dialing option three when prompted.

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