Study shows elderly diabetics struggle with high-tech blood glucose monitors

Older diabetics struggle to use high-tech blood sugar trackers the NHS is rolling out to revolutionise their care, a study claims.

Last year 400,000 Britons with the disease were offered the devices, called continuous glucose monitors, which track blood sugar levels via a sensor in the arm.

The data is beamed to an app on the patients phone which can send them alerts if their blood sugar is too low or high. The technology does away with finger-prick blood tests, which diabetics have had to endure several times a day.

But researchers in the US have found that the digital devices can be a stumbling block for people over 65. During the study, three-quarters of participants allowed blood sugars to drop to seriously low levels without noticing.