Diabetesel Self -analysis of capillary glucose is key to the correct control of diabetes
Carla Nieto.Madrid · January 26, 2011 09:38
Experts suggest that this method is implanted from the diagnosis of the disease within the framework of an educational program.
Of Izd.A DCHA.: Dr. Alfonso Calle;Mr. Michele Pedrocchi, director of Roche Diabetes Care Iberia and Latin America;Dr. Edelmiro Menéndez and Dr. Francisco Tinahones.
Every 8 seconds a person dies in the world as a result of diabetes;9 out of 10 patients with diabetes are of type 2, a disease that is increasingly appearing among the population, and only between 5% and 10% of the patients with this pathology are in optimal control.These are some of the data thrown by a group of experts during a recent meeting in which the importance of self -control and telemedicine in diabetes was discussed.
Dr. Alfonso Calle, Head of the Endocrinology Service of the San Carlos Clinical Hospital, in Madrid, commented on some of the conclusions of a study that his team has been carrying out for two years and in which results are being compared in patients who performself -analysis regarding those who do not.
“We have been able to verify that capillary monitoring favors the adhesion of patients to treatment.Thus, for example, 64% reduced body weight, while 38% of patients acquired a healthier lifestyle.In this sense, the capillary monitoring of glucose has meant a great advance, but it must be considered as a tool, it is not a treatment. ”
Dr. Calle insisted on the need to differentiate self -analysis from self -control."Self -analysis is the measurement made by the patient of his glycemia, while the self -control would be the 'step to action', that is, the process by which the patient, after performing self -analis, makes decisions about the treatment ofhis illness ”.
As Dr. Calle commented, “the usual thing is that the doctor does not recommend, at the outset, the monitoring of capillary glucose, except to evaluate the effectiveness of certain drugs.However, this tool should be implemented from the beginning and within an educational program.In this sense, it is a resource that requires a teaching offered by health teams so that the patient knows how to interpret the figures obtained in their self -analysis. ”
Economic repercussions of the disease
Along the same lines, Dr. Edelmiro Menéndez, head of the Endocrinology Service of the Central University Hospital of Asturias, commented that although capillary monitoring is not considered a drug, if it constitutes an integral part of the treatment."Automedition is an instrument that helps good control and to be able to use it properly requires a complete and structured diabetes education program, essential if we want to achieve patient self -care."
Likewise, Dr. Menéndez alluded to the economic repercussions that this disease has.“More than 90% of the diabetes cost is caused by its complications;Therefore, our work must be aimed at reducing them, and self -control is probably the most powerful instrument we have. ”
For his part, Dr. Francisco Tinahones, head of the Endocrinology Service of the Virgen de la Victoria University Clinical Hospital, of Malaga, commented on the results that have been obtained since the implementation in his hospital in the Emminens Connecta system, by Roche, a tool ofTelemedicine that allows patients (patients with type 1 or gestational diabetes) to send, through the phone or computer, their glucose values to a website in which they can interact with the specialist."It is proven that this type of improvement toolsThe glycemic control, since with them patients monitor and, therefore, more continuous of their pathology and, in addition, avoid three or four face -to -face visits a year, which are replaced by seven or eight telematic. ”Patients requesting this monitoring are included in a system in which two doctors of the service work a day a week.
Jano.es