Categories: Health

Family doctors may prescribe continuous glucose meters.

A patient with type 1 diabetes shows his device for monitoring his sugar levels. EFE

The Ministry of Health has established that from next Monday, May 13, family doctors will be able to prescribe continuous glucometers to patients with type 2 diabetes who need them.

General Director of the pharmacy Elena Gra noted that in this way “all specialists involved in diagnosis and treatment; pediatric endocrinologists and family doctors; “They will be able to prescribe these devices to people with type 2 diabetes who require multiple doses of different types of insulin, slow-acting and fast-acting, to improve their quality of life and control their disease.”

Currently, in the Valencian Community, more than 14,300 people with type 1 diabetes already use these devices, and starting next Monday there will be approximately 14,400 more patients with type 2 diabetes, insulin-dependent, which require greater demand and need for control.

The Ministry of Health’s investment in continuous interstitial glucose monitors for the entire diabetic population, which will benefit from this measure, amounts to about 35 million euros per year, the Generalitat said in a statement.

In particular, the glucose monitoring system in patients with type 2 diabetes as an alternative to glucose test strips is indicated for those patients who are undergoing intensive insulin therapy (multiple insulin injections or insulin pump therapy) and who require at least six palpations per day for self-diagnosis . monitoring blood glucose levels.

The Ministry of Health has set up an outpatient information system for prescribing continuous glucose meters with the issuing health center, which can be the hospital itself or a health center in its area.

To facilitate the work of writing prescriptions in primary health care, a special tool was introduced within the Abucasis module and training was provided to doctors.

Elena Gras explained that continuous interstitial glucose monitors “are devices that have special sensors that measure glucose levels in real time without the need for capillary puncture, allowing us to know the patient’s 24-hour glucose profile and their glucose fluctuations. »

“Some of the benefits of these devices are that they have alarms that can warn of high and low blood glucose levels and even anticipate possible hyper/hypoglycemia and act accordingly to avoid them. The information recorded by the devices can even be shared with family members or medical staff through mobile and web applications,” emphasized the CEO of Pharmacia.

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