I’m type one diabetic – my glucose monitor isn’t a ‘status symbol’

‘What’s that on your arm? Is it a nicotine patch?’

I’ve been asked this question countless times by strangers. When I worked as a waitress, I was often stopped by customers whilst I was frantically moving between tables, as though my job opened me up to such an invasive, ill-informed comment.

‘No, it’s actually a continuous glucose monitor. I’m a type 1 diabetic,’ I’d tell them.

Then, I’d often get a spiel about how their grandma had diabetes – and if I was really lucky, they’d add that she died from complications.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition in which the pancreas, an organ which produces insulin to regulate blood glucose, stops working.

As a result, those living with the condition need to take synthetic insulin to regulate their blood sugars, which are monitored either manually with a finger prick test or, increasingly, with a continuous glucose monitor (CGM).

In the UK, type 2 diabetes accounts for approximately 90% of all diabetes cases, and type 1 approximately 10%.

I have an insulin pump that drip feeds it into me so that I don’t need to deal with needles – and a CGM that I scan using my phone to read my blood sugar levels. It’s a life-saving, life-altering piece of equipment.

But now, it increasingly isn’t just type 1 diabetics that use this technology – it’s non-diabetics who are looking to gather a greater understanding of how certain foods impact their blood glucose, too.

The Zoe study, which comes with a price tag of £299, allows users to complete at-home tests to give an insight into their blood fat, blood sugar and gut microbiome health. It’s had the glitzy backing of celebrities including Davina McCall, who appeared as the face of the advert, as well as Carrie Johnson.

The data is compiled not just using the CGM, but also with a gut health and blood fat test that allow the team to score every food (from 0-100) so that those trialling it can make better, informed choices on what they eat.

However, there are concerns amongst the type 1 community about this increasing trend, with many worrying that a CGM is increasingly seen as a ‘status symbol,’ rather than a piece of medical equipment.

In fact, Asma Choudhry, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was 4, believes that it detracts from the gruelling reality of living with the condition.

‘I just don’t understand the need for someone who is not diabetic to use it. If you really want to know, you can get a blood test kit,’ Asma, who is now 24 and lives in London, explains.

Likewise, Asma highlights that globally, there are some people living with type 1 diabetes who cannot access this technology because of the cost.

Now, a CGM or flash glucose monitor should be available to anyone in the UK on the NHS free of charge, but before this policy was rolled out across the nations in summer 2022, there were concerns that getting access was a matter of a ‘postcode lottery.’

I was on the waiting list for a long time – the best part of two years – before I was actually offered a CGM, whilst I was living in Leeds, West Yorkshire. And, in other countries where healthcare isn’t free, type 1 diabetics still struggle to access it.

In the US, one 2023 study by the American Diabetes Association found that poorer, older, Black and brown Americans were least likely to use CGMs.

It noted that low income was a considerable hurdle towards CGM access, with patients covered by Medicaid (the nation’s public health insurance programme for people on low income) two to five times less likely to qualify for a CGM than those who use a commercial health insurance plan.

And, in countries where there’s barely any medical infrastructure in place at all, some living with type 1 diabetes might struggle to access insulin at all – let alone state-of-the-art equipment.

Those living with diabetes in low and middle-income countries often lack access to the medication they need to survive: only 27% of the 108 countries classified as ‘poor’ register all the varieties of insulin labelled essential medicines by the World Health Organisation (WHO). And without this insulin, they’ll die.

With all this in mind, it’s important to understand that accessing a CGM is still a privilege – one that many living with type 1 diabetes simply cannot afford.

‘There are people who are happy to spend £100+ on it,’ Asma adds. ‘They can just go back to their regular life once it’s over, but type 1 diabetics can’t do that.’

Elsewhere, 28-year-old Bri Henderson, who was diagnosed in 2013, has similar concerns. She was eventually prescribed a CGM on the NHS in 2023, but she self-funded for two-and-a-half years because she previously wasn’t eligible.

‘It’s become a trend, something ‘cool’ to wear. Due to the cost per CGM (£92.89 for a pack of two on Amazon), it’s most definitely a status symbol,’ she tells Metro.co.uk.

‘The fact people are buying them for fitness or weight loss tracking is the most infuriating element. We use this tech as diabetics to save our lives on a day-to-day basis.’

Like Bri, Tess Heap was forced to self-fund her CGM for almost four years before she was given the go-ahead by the NHS in 2019.

And, since she’s been using it, she’s found that it’s improved her experience of monitoring her blood sugar in public, evading curious looks and unwelcome questions from strangers.

‘Not having to get out all my paraphernalia every time I need to know my blood sugar has been life changing not only from the point of view of convenience but also visibility,’ Tess, who is 30 and lives in Poole, shares.

‘A conversation about diabetes is not always something I want to have.’

Like Asma and Bri, Tess is frustrated by the rise of the CGM, noting that it trivialises the plight of the type 1 community.

‘It trivialises the need diabetics have for the technology in order for us to live healthy lives and with celebrity endorsement promotes this as a ‘leveling up’ in the world of health and fitness gimmickry.

‘Everyone has a smart watch nowadays and this is becoming the new must-have health ‘gadget’.

‘Without diabetes I’m unsure of the real benefits for anyone who understands diet and it feels like more of a flex than a tool to improve overall quality of life.’

The Zoe study isn’t necessarily at fault here – if paying customers want to analyse the impact certain foods have on their blood glucose then so be it – but in doing so, they perhaps need to consider the CGM’s original intended use, and how lucky they are to be able to afford the hefty cost.

There are so many type 1 diabetics who still don’t have that right.

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