New Modem System Helps Diabetics

   The Associated Press
   Sunday, July 18 1999 12:02 PM EDT

   BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - A new modem system is allowing some diabetics to
   send their blood-sugar levels to their doctors with the touch of a
   button. The technology means fewer office visits and faster treatment.

   Lynn Dempsey is among 10 western New York diabetics testing the modem
   system produced by Indianopolis-based Roche Diagnostics. For years,
   she kept track of her changing blood-sugar levels by jotting them in a
   log book which she carried back and forth to her doctor.

   Now, she transmits the information directly to the doctor's office
   from home or work through a modem that saves her from logging entries.

   ``Before ... I communicated (with my doctor) once every two or three
   months, when I visited,'' the Niagara Falls woman said. ``Now, I'm
   communicating with him on a weekly basis ... and when he sees the
   results, he calls me to tell me whether I should change my treatment
   plan or not.''

   The system is marketed as the Acculink modem system, which works with
   the Accu-Chek Complete blood glucose meter. The system also is in
   limited use in a several other cities, including San Francisco and
   Milwaukee.

   Dr. Paresh Dandona, Ms. Dempsey's doctor, said the technology is
   especially beneficial for patients who must travel long distances to
   their doctor's office and for unstable patients, who must check their
   blood up to four times a day and frequently phone in the results.

   With the Acculink system, patients prick their finger, put a drop of
   blood on a test strip and place it in the meter, which reads the
   results. The data can then be quickly transmitted through a telephone
   line to the doctor's computer or fax machine.

   ``The patients don't have to spend time trying to call the person and
   dictate the values,'' said Dandona, director of the
   Diabetes-Endocrinology Center of Western New York. ``When it is
   convenient for the staff to look at the information, they can analyze
   and interpret it and get back to the patient.

   ``This can be done round the clock because you're not waiting for
   someone on the other side to talk to you,'' he said.

   Diabetics' bodies don't produce or properly use insulin, a hormone
   needed to convert sugar and starches into energy. The cause of the
   disease is a mystery, although genetics and factors such as obesity
   and lack of exercise appear to play a role.

   About 15.7 million people, or roughly 6 percent of Americans, have
   diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association. The
   seventh-leading cause of death in the country, it can lead to
   blindness, kidney and nerve disease, heart disease and stroke without
   careful treatment.

   Dr. Gerald Bernstein, former president of the American Diabetes
   Association, said technology allowing patients to deliver their blood
   levels from remote sites would be helpful.

   Regular monitoring by a doctor is essential, especially for patients
   with unstable blood-sugar levels, said Bernstein, director of the
   Diabetes Management Program at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York.

   He suggested that patients not only transmit the numbers from the
   meter, but continue to keep a handwritten log to retain a feel for how
   they correlate to their health.

   ``Patients have a better understanding of their numbers when they
   write them down, but that's a personal thing,'' he said. ``It's
   empowering.''


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