China drafts diabetes treatment handbook
Shanghai. November 17. INTERFAX-CHINA - The Chinese Diabetes Society (CDS), a branch of the Chinese Medical Association, has completed the first draft of the Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) Handbook, state media reported on Nov. 17.
According to Xinhua news agency, CDS director Ji Linong was quoted as saying at a press conference in Beijing that China needs more detailed guidelines to aid the application of CGM systems in clinical practice. A CGM system allows blood glucose levels to be measured on a continuous basis every few minutes as opposed to the traditional fingerstick measurement done twice a day.
"The traditional fingerstick measurement is not accurate for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes patients whose blood glucose levels fluctuate widely throughout the day, as such it is necessary to look into improving the measurement process," Jia Weiping, president of Shanghai Diabetes Research Institute, told Interfax.
CDS has yet to set a timetable for the release of the CGM Handbook, the report said.
As of the end of 2007, there were a total of 40 million diabetes patients in China, ranking China as the country with the second largest diabetes population in the world. At present, CGM devices sold in the Chinese market are mainly produced and marketed by Medtronic, DexCom and Abbott Laboratories.
-YCX