Picture Perfect Diabetes Management

Imagine. You find yourself in a dark room. You have a small flashlight, but you can't see past its narrow beam of light. The rest of the room remains hidden from view. You cautiously inch forward. 

For many years, Dr. Eugene Wright felt like this, working in the dark with limited information as he made treatment decisions for his patients with diabetes.

Many people with diabetes have to check their glucose levels regularly to help manage their disease and stay healthy. Individual glucose readings help guide important daily choices such as how much medication to take, what to eat and when to exercise.

In the past decade, new treatments and lifestyle approaches have made it possible to improve the health of people with diabetes. Doctors use a tool called hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) — an average of glucose readings over a period of up to 90 days – to check their patients’ overall glucose control, and then help them make necessary medication and lifestyle changes. Dr. Wright notes that HbA1c readings provide some useful information, but they don't fully illuminate what's happening to his patients' glucose levels. HbA1c readings are like a flashlight in a very dark room.

“I've never been able to see what my patients’ blood glucose levels look like throughout the day,” Wright said. “Even with patients who test their glucose regularly, I could only see single readings or the average number, not the whole picture. This was very frustrating, because I couldn’t know if their glucose was very high or very low at different points.”

Getting The Full Story

“We’ve had this big, remaining challenge. We’ve been trying to understand what’s happening with our patients’ glucose patterns using a single snapshot. But what we really needed to understand the full story – and to make the best treatment and lifestyle decisions for every person - was a movie,” he said.

Now, our FreeStyle^® Libre Pro system allows doctors like Dr. Wright to see the “full picture” of patients’ glucose levels and fluctuations, so they’re not relying on just a flashlight in a dark room. This revolutionary technology continually monitors a patient’s glucose for up to 14 days and produces a comprehensive report of glucose data over time. Known as an “Ambulatory Glucose Profile” (AGP), this report gives a simplified and complete overview of glucose levels and variations. It also shows patterns and trends within those levels. The AGP can help healthcare professionals make more informed treatment decisions and recommendations for their patients.

“The FreeStyle Libre Pro gives us a very clear view of how well our patients’ glucose is managed at all points of the day,” said Dr. Wright. “I can see how glucose changes when a patient eats or sleeps, or after they take their medication, for example. Then we can work together to make customized medication, diet and exercise changes that could help them feel better and stay healthier”