Basics
Two kinds of sensor, one shared goal.
Continuous glucose monitoring reads glucose through a small sensor worn on the body. It replaces the guesswork of finger-pricks with a stream of data showing where glucose is heading, not just where it is.
isCGM / flash
Intermittently scanned sensors record a glucose value every few minutes. You scan with a phone or reader to see the reading and a trend arrow.
rtCGM
Real-time sensors send readings automatically to a phone, pump or receiver, and can alert before a hypo or hyper — critical for insulin users and hypoglycaemia unawareness.
Why it matters
Complications consume the care budget.
Diabetes rarely harms people through blood sugar alone. It does it through what unmanaged glucose does over years.
of diabetes-related healthcare spending treats complications, not day-to-day management.
develop cardiovascular disease.
develop chronic kidney disease.
experience diabetic retinopathy — a leading cause of preventable blindness.
develop peripheral neuropathy.
higher risk of heart failure; 1.5–2× higher risk of stroke.
Sources: IDF Europe, Compendium of Country Profiles (2025), Chapter 3; Diabetes UK wheel of complications.
Next
The evidence