Internet helps diabetics monitor blood sugar

By Megan Rauscher

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - An Internet-based blood sugar monitoring system is superior to making regular visits to a doctor's office for controlling blood sugar and achieving optimal, stable blood sugar levels, according to a long-term study of a group of diabetes patients who used the system.

"Urgently, we need to find a new system for effective glucose control and we suggest that the (Internet-based system) could be a key for solution of diabetes-related problems," Dr. Jae-Hyoung Cho from The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, told Reuters Health.

With the system, diabetes patients log on to a website and upload their self-obtained blood sugar results on an individualized online chart. They may also post questions, concerns, or issues that might influence blood sugar control in a "memo box" for their health care provider.

Staff members, which in this study included three doctors, a nurse and a dietitian, monitor the system daily and send appropriate responses, as needed, based on the patients' uploaded information.

In their study, reported this month in Diabetes Care, Dr. Cho and colleagues randomly assigned 80 type 2 diabetic patients with varying degrees of blood sugar control to conventional management -- keeping a written record of blood sugar levels and attending office visits every 3 months -- or to the Internet-based monitoring system for 30 months.

During the study, average blood sugar levels were significantly lower in the Internet group compared with the control group and fluctuations in blood sugar levels were also significantly lower in the Internet group.

Internet-based blood sugar monitoring is convenient for both patients and their doctors, Cho said, and at the same time provides a way for frequent feedback and communication between patients and doctors.

"This feedback and communication could play an important role for improving self-motivation and self-glucose control," Cho said.

SOURCE: Diabetes Care December, 2006.