CALGARY – Officials say the aim of a new study now underway in Calgary is keeping women with Type 1 diabetes as healthy as possible through their pregnancy.
Women with diabetes have to pay close attention to their blood glucose levels while pregnant to keep their babies healthy and avoid complications in childbirth.
High blood sugar levels can lead to higher birth weights and potentially difficult deliveries, while elevated blood sugars before conception and in early pregnancy increase the risk of birth defects.
The trial is evaluating how effective it is to continually monitor sugar levels in the patient’s blood, instead of checking blood glucose levels several times a day with a meter.
“By providing regular, nearly constant feedback, a continuous glucose monitor shows women which way their sugar levels are trending and whether they need to take corrective action,” says Dr. Lois Donovan.
To get the most accurate blood sugar level, women still need to manually draw and test a drop of blood, but a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) may provide a useful cue for when to do that.
A CGM system consists of a small sensor inserted in the skin of the abdomen that transmits blood sugar readings every five minutes to a monitor similar to a pager.
Researchers are also assessing how well women tolerate the use of continuous glucose monitors, which must be reinserted in the skin every six days.
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“I had tried a monitor in the past and found the insertion painful, but there have been some improvements since then and it’s a lot easier to use,” says Canmore resident Lauren Moore, who is expecting her first child on March 21.
“Given everything that’s going on, the reminders I get from it are quite helpful,” she says.
The study is supported by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the JDRF Canadian Clinical Trial Network. It is being led out of Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.
In addition to the Calgary site, the study has collaborating sites across Ontario and internationally in the U.S., U.K., Spain, Italy and Israel. In Calgary, researchers with AHS and the University of Calgary aim to enrol between 50 and 60 women.
About half will receive a continuous glucose monitor and the other half will form a control group that receives the current standard of care.
Women with Type 1 diabetes who are planning a pregnancy or who are pregnant can learn more about the Calgary arm of the study by calling 403-955-8358.
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