BMJ  2007;335:271 (11 August), doi:10.1136/bmj.39297.470324.1F

Letters

Self monitoring in diabetes

Let me own my disease

As has been pointed out by several responders, the trial of Farmer et al was flawed in that those in the "intensive testing" group were not given the information to act on the results of their tests to bring their blood glucose down (take exercise), nor were they encouraged to use the results of the test to modify their diets to achieve greater control.^{1 2} On the contrary, they were encouraged to maintain their regimens.

Therefore I find the contention that self monitoring of blood glucose is not beneficial and the attitude of some of the medical profession towards their diabetic patients extremely arrogant and ill founded. It led me to think about how I would feel if I were refused strips and treated like a child with the diabetes specialist nurse precribing my regimen—in effect, it would take away my "ownership" of the disease.

Surely it is possible for doctors to prescribe for motivated patients who will take advantage of the strips to modify their regimens accordingly and prove the worth of the prescription by saving the NHS money in the long run. There will, of course, be many patients who cannot cope with the necessary hard work (because it is hard work) and who would prefer to have their diabetes managed by the medical profession, but please do not deny the wherewithal to those who are both motivated and able to use the results.

Lescudjack Centre, Penzance, Cornwall TR18 3PE

---

Competing interests: None declared.

References

1. Farmer A, Wade A, Goyder E, Yudkin P, French D, Craven A, et al, on behalf of the Diabetes Glycaemic Education and Monitoring Trial Group. Impact of self monitoring of blood glucose in the management of patients with non-insulin treated diabetes: open parallel group randomised trial. BMJ 2007;335:132-6. (21 July.)[Abstract/Free Full Text]
2. Rapid responses. Impact of self monitoring of blood glucose in the management of patients with non-insulin treated diabetes. bmj.com 2007 www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/335/7611/132

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Article

Impact of self monitoring of blood glucose in the management of patients with non-insulin treated diabetes: open parallel group randomised trial

Andrew Farmer, Alisha Wade, Elizabeth Goyder, Patricia Yudkin, David French, Anthea Craven, Rury Holman, Ann-Louise Kinmonth, and Andrew Neil
BMJ 2007 335: 132. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]