Skip to main content

Using Your CGM to Improve Time in Range

Updated: 2/25/22 12:25 pmPublished: 2/16/21
By Matthew Garza

In this video on understanding your ambulatory glucose profile (AGP) report, pediatric endocrinologist, Dr. Amy Criego from the International Diabetes Center, uses real-world AGP examples to show how small steps and manageable goals can lead to more Time in Range. 

Continuous glucose monitors (CGM) are an amazing tool; the data they provide can help you learn more about your diabetes and dramatically improve your diabetes management. You can work with your care team to improve your Time in Range (TIR) based on data from your CGM. The International Diabetes Center’s Ambulatory Glucose Profile (AGP) report is a standardized, single-page report included in your CGM software that is based on your last 14 days of glucose data. It shows key measurements – including TIR, a summary glucose profile, and daily glucose graphs – that can be used to assess your diabetes management and outcomes and inform any changes you should make.

In this video, Dr. Criego shares real-world AGP reports from three people with diabetes:

  • Lee is a 20-year-old who has had type 1 diabetes for seven years. He currently uses a blood glucose monitor and insulin injections and his A1C is usually high. He struggles with consistent monitoring of his glucose levels, especially due to an unpredictable schedule.

  • Joe is a 17-year-old who has had type 1 diabetes for 11 years. He has been using a CGM for a long time and is working to increase his independence with his diabetes management.

  • Jill is a 10-year-old who has lived with type 1 diabetes since the age of two. She uses a CGM, and though her parents currently give her insulin injections, the family is interested in exploring insulin pumps to see how they could help her diabetes management.

Dr. Criego discusses how each individual’s care team used data from their AGP report to set attainable goals that could be achieved by making small adjustments to their diabetes management. Even though these examples focus on people with type 1 diabetes, you can definitely still learn from them if you have type 2 diabetes – and be sure to watch Dr. Anders Carlson’s video which includes examples for people with type 2 diabetes. 

To learn more about the AGP, check out “Making the Most of CGM: Uncover the Magic of Your Ambulatory Glucose Profile.

Watch our other videos in the “Shedding Light on the AGP Report” series:

 

 

Listen to this video at your leisure or fast forward to the section that most intrigues you!

  • 0:00 Introduction

  • 0:33 Analyze Your Report and Improve Your TIR

  • 0:56 The Different Parts of the AGP Report

  • 2:00 What is Going Well and Where are You Now?

  • 2:37 Learning from Lee – How seeing your glucose data can help improve issues caused by inconsistent monitoring by taking small steps towards achievable goals

  • 7:00 Learning from Joe – How understanding your TIR metrics can help teens gain confidence in independent diabetes management

  • 11:33 Learning from Jill – Looking at your AGP report to see how an insulin pump can help with hypoglycemia unawareness and TIR

  • 15:09 When Should You Call Your Care Team?

  • 16:42 Closing Remarks

This article is part of a series on Time in Range. 
 
The diaTribe Foundation, in concert with the Time in Range Coalition, is committed to helping people with diabetes and their caregivers understand Time in Range to maximize patients' health. Learn more about the Time in Range Coalition here.

What do you think?

About the authors

Matthew Garza joined the diaTribe Foundation as an associate in 2020 where he worked on diaTribe Learn and the dSeries Executive Innovation Labs. In February 2022, he helped launch dStigmatize.org... Read the full bio »