Dexcom G4 monitors blood sugar in diabetics—and could aid athletes

The black cellphone-sized device buzzed intently three times. 80 mg/dL, the screen urgently warned in bright red letters on a black background, LOW. Time to take a sip of Gatorade.

The insistent messenger in question is the Dexcom G4 Platinum handset, a simple looking gadget that has made a big difference in the lives of many diabetics. One of a handful of continuous glucose monitors on the market, the G4 allows people suffering from type 1 mellitus—as many as three million Americans, according to JDRF, an organization that campaigns for research funding to cure type 1—to keep constant track of their blood sugar levels.

“A lot of times with the [glucose] meter I was more reactive,” says Haley Ganser, 31, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was 15, and has been using a CGM since 2012. “I would feel that my blood sugars were dropping and so I would test myself. Now because I have the Dexcom I can actually see ‘OK, I’m at a fine level now, but it looks like I’m starting to drop, so I should probably eat a little snack now, before I start to feel the effects of the low blood sugar.’ So I can catch things faster.”

(read more…)