New technology to help diabetic patients monitor and manage their condition is easier to use, promoting greater compliance.

The famous KISS rule – sometimes translated as "keep it simple for success" – is one that seems to have been embraced by manufacturers of devices to help diabetics monitor and manage their condition.

New blood-glucose monitors are smaller, easier to use and less painful than ever, which is bound to have a positive effect on patient compliance, says Lynn Baughan, manager of diabetes education programs and strategies for the Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA).

"Anything that makes it faster, more convenient and more portable for individuals with diabetes makes it more likely that they would test and use the information and tools for their diabetes management," Baughan says.

"The monitors that are being developed today are much more user friendly," she says. "They tend to take smaller drops of blood. "There’s been the development of strips, what we call capillary-action strips, where they draw the blood inside the strip and the count-down starts automatically. Some of the meters are smaller. Some have shorter testing times. There are a couple of products available where you can do multiple tests before you have to change the strip, or the cartridge that holds the testing strips inside the machine. There’s a couple out there that offer alternate-site testing – so you don’t have to do the glucose testing from the fingertips. It can be done on the forearm, for example."

That’s one of the advantages touted by the OneTouch Ultra System from Lifescan, which has recruited guitarist B.B. King, "King of the Blues," for an advertising campaign with the slogan "Now your fingers have more time to jam." The device also advertises a five-second test result. A CDA flyer cites the FreeStyle meter by TheraSense as offering alternate testing sites.

Not only is this an advantage for people such as musicians, who are using their hands in a particular way and want to protect their fingertips, but proponents claim it hurts less to be pricked in alternate areas, Baughan says.

The CDA also discusses other devices that make testing more convenient, such as the SofTact Diabetes Management System by MediSense, a lancing device and glucose measurement all in one; the Accu Check Compact All-in-One System from Roche Diagnostics, which has a 17-test strip drum; and the Glucometer DEX 2 by Bayer, which has a 10-test cartridge feature.

The CDA’s catalogue, Consumer’s Guide to Diabetes Products, also lists the InDuo from Lifescan/Norvo Nordisk Canada, the "world’s first combined blood-glucose monitor and insulin-dosing system."

On the horizon there are even simpler and more attractive devices, says Alexis Mantell, senior manager for strategic communications and media relations for CDA. Although not yet available in Canada, these include Medtronic’s MiniMed Continuous Glucose Monitoring System, which uses a sensor placed subcutaneously and a belt-worn monitor to track glucose levels, which can be printed out as a graph; and the gluco watch, a wrist device that non-invasively monitors glucose levels via a small electric current conducted through the skin. This one can even be programmed to sound an alarm if levels are not good.

"Certainly if you look at the technology, and compare what’s available to 20 years ago, there’s been huge advances," Baughan says. In fact, the first self-monitoring glucose-testing device was introduced in Canada more than 30 years ago, in 1969.

Many monitors have special features such as a memory or the ability to input notes, and often there is accompanying computer software, allowing the patient to download results and print out trends or a log book.

"All these things provide information, and having information about glucose patterns helps diabetes patients to make informed decisions that will impact on their health," Baughan says.

Such factors as the effect of exercise or stress and various medications can be monitored and their impact on the condition determined.

In addition, Baughan says, there are advantages in the newer products of special interest to older adults, such as larger digital screens and bigger, clearer type as well as lancing devices – used to prick the skin for blood samples – that can be adjusted to penetrate at different levels. This is more comfortable for those with fine or thin skin who don’t need the needle to penetrate as far.

Baughan stresses that it’s important for all diabetics – whether in insulin treatments, oral medications or diet therapy – to monitor their blood-glucose levels regularly to determine how lifestyle habits are having an effect on their health.