New device continually monitors blood sugar levels

It is almost like science fiction. 
The nurse pressed a button and a button-shaped object was attached to my body. No, it was not controlling my actions or thoughts but it was continuously monitoring my blood sugar.
Even though I do not have diabetes, I had to try out this device!  In fact I drove all the way to Atlanta and sat through a conference on the weekend to learn more about this nifty gadget. 
I can hardly feel the device attached to my body but it is recording my sugars in its memory and when I take it off, the data can be downloaded to my computer. I can then see exactly what happened to my sugar with every meal.
It has been shown that controlling blood sugar makes a big difference in the health of an individual.  Ideally, we like to have fasting sugar readings between 70 to 120 and having the readings higher or lower than this can cause problems.
At night, our sugars can often drop quite low and sometimes we are unable to tell when it is getting too low. When sugars drop too low that is called hypoglycemia and often we can be unaware of low sugars. This phenomenon is called hypoglycemia unawareness, and it is quite common with those who have Type 1 diabetes. 
When our sugar drops too low, our body releases hormones like adrenalin that speed up the heart and make us feel nervous or shaky.  Those who get frequent hypoglycemia lose their ability to release adrenalin and can have hypoglycemia unawareness that can be quite dangerous. 
As we sleep at night, we are fasting for quite a long time and the sugars can drop too low at night and we might be completely unaware of the hypoglycemia. Therefore, having a monitor that automatically is recording sugar readings 24/7 helps determine what is going on with the body. 
If you have diabetes or think you might be having frequent hypoglycemic events, you might benefit from having one of these devices called a Continuous Glucose Monitor System (CGMS) attached to your body for a couple of days. 
Your insurance might cover the cost of this monitoring. 
In our continuing effort to provide the latest and best medical care, we will soon have one of these devices available for patients to use. We are one of the only clinics in Destin that routinely provides insulin pumps for diabetics and we will soon be able to provide continuous glucose monitoring.
It might look like something from Star Trek but it is right here in Destin and it is there for you to take advantage of.
Dr. Nitin Bawa is a board certified internal medicine physician. He can be reached at (850) 534-4170.