School nurses are better in controling type 1 diabetes in children
More over the parents and doctors, school nurses can help kids to control diabetes better. Researchers found that nurses are able to help them with poorly controlled type 1, or “insulin dependent,” diabetes better manage their blood sugar during the school day.
In a pilot study lasting 3 months, researchers found that nurse-supervised blood sugar monitoring, insulin injections at lunch and periodic insulin dose adjustment as needed during school led to significant improvement in participants’ hemoglobin A1C — a standard indicator of long-term blood sugar control.
At the start of the study, all of the children had hemoglobin A1C levels of 9 percent or higher, indicating that their diabetes was not well controlled. The desired hemoglobin A1C level is below 7 percent.
At the end of the 3-month study period, the 18 subjects who took part in the nurse-supervised blood sugar control program had lowered their hemoglobin A1C level by a significant 1.6 percent, whereas hemoglobin A1C was unchanged in the 18 “control” subjects who continued their usual diabetes care and insulin regimen.
The investigators say further clinical trials are currently planned to determine the particular components of the school-based program that are most helpful and whether this intervention can be sustained long-term and lead to improved blood sugar control among “this difficult group of patients.”
Source: Reuters
Filed under Blood Sugar Testing, Diabetes, IDDM, Insulin
