{"id":972,"date":"2003-01-31T14:54:12","date_gmt":"2003-01-31T03:54:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/inthenews\/?p=972"},"modified":"2015-04-29T14:20:32","modified_gmt":"2015-04-29T04:20:32","slug":"new-diabetes-support-for-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/new-diabetes-support-for-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"New diabetes support for kids: Athlete helps hospital to help kids stay on track"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Royal Children’s Hospital has introduced a new way of helping children and young people with diabetes to monitor their blood glucose levels.<\/p>\n

RCH is the first hospital in Australia to use the continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS) in routine clinical care.\u00a0 The CGMS checks blood glucose levels every 30-seconds and stores the information to memory.\u00a0 Kids and their clinician can review a 72-hour period to help them identify what activity may have caused a swing in their blood glucose levels.<\/p>\n

The device consists of a small meter the size of a mobile phone, attached to an electrode that is inserted under the skin.\u00a0 The patient wears the device for 72-hours.\u00a0 It’s particularly useful for very young patients who are coming to terms with the disease, and teenagers who are rebelling against the restraints of the illness.<\/p>\n

The hospital has been using CGMS for about four months with great benefits to patients and clinicians.<\/p>\n

‘It’s the best thing to have occurred in terms of giving us the information we require to monitor blood glucose levels,’ said the diabetes nurse educator, Rebecca Gebert.<\/p>\n

‘The monitors are expensive and time consuming for staff, but they provide the patient and clinician with blood glucose profiles which could not be obtained by conventional blood glucose monitoring – unless you did 20 blood glucose finger-pricks a day!\u00a0 It is a fantastic clinical tool’.<\/p>\n

\"Diabetes1_31012003\"Funding for the devices came via international sprinter David Baxter and his involvement with Tattersall’s Champions Dream Team, a program that rewards the achievement of career milestones by selected champion athletes by donating money to their chosen charity.<\/p>\n

By making the Commonwealth Games team, and winning a bronze medal in the 4 x 100 meter relay David achieved two goals last year, and Royal Children’s Hospital reaped the benefits.<\/p>\n

David is a medical student with a special interest in juvenile diabetes: on Friday he will meet 18 year-old Casey and Darcy, 6, when they are fitted with monitors.\u00a0 Fifteen year-old Glenn recently used the monitor and will also be here to tell David how it helped him.<\/p>\n