The content below is provided by Kristie Lambert, MSN, APRN

Kristie Lambert is an Adult Nurse Practitioner who specializes in Endocrinology. She completed her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the University of Toledo and then earned her Master’s of Science in Nursing at the University of Akron. She has a passion for diabetes and has been working in this field since 2011.

In her spare time she enjoys reading, boating and spending time with family and her dog CJ.

Evolution of Diabetes: Glucose Monitoring

Blood sugar monitoring is a necessity for all people with diabetes, no matter what type you are and my, how the technology has changed. What was being done 50 or even 25 years ago to monitor blood sugars, is completely different than what is being done today. So sit back and read on, and by the time you are done, you will see the silver lining in having diabetes today versus back then, and it might even give you hope for the future. 

How would you like to check your sugar with your urine? Well, that’s how it used to be done. Dating all the way back to the 1960s, urine was the only option.  Urine testing started with boiling the urine, which progressed to putting a reactive tablet in the urine and finally in the 1960s, a test strip was developed which reacted directly with the urine. The color the urine or test strip turned, corresponded to sugar levels. This was not very accurate for how sugars were doing in real time, but it is all they had.

Blood sugar monitoring. This probably sounds a little more familiar to you. This has also come a long way from where it originally started. In 1965, the Dextrostix was developed and it was the first blood sugar test strip. It required a large drop of blood that was placed on the strip, the strip then went in a meter, and after 60 seconds the blood was washed away. The color that remained was then compared to a chart that gave you an idea of where the blood sugar was. This device was mainly used in hospital emergency departments and physician offices.

I’m sure you’re starting to wonder, when did self-monitoring of blood sugar become a thing? Mid 1970s to 1980s, that was only about 40-50 years ago! Through the years, these devices have stopped requiring wiping of the blood, they require less blood, have become more portable and most importantly more accurate.

The 1990s welcomed the continuous glucose monitor (CGM). In 1999, CGMs were approved for  “professional” use through physicians’ offices only. The patient wore the CGM for 3 days (without knowing what the blood sugar readings were) and then the CGM was brought back to the physician for review. The first personal CGM was approved in 2004. CGMs have also been changing. The devices are smaller, the wear time is becoming longer and some are even implantable. They are also being integrated into insulin delivery devices. 

To put all this into perspective, someone who is 20 years old and younger has had access to CGMs. Those who were diagnosed well after 2004, have the possibility of rarely having to finger-stick for blood sugar information!

The evolution of blood sugar monitoring has come a long way, from urine testing to the most recent advancement in CGMs. One thing history has taught us, how blood sugars are being monitored today, won’t stay the same! 

Kristie Lambert, MSN, APRN