By Paul Sisson
San Diego Union-Tribune
SAN DIEGO — Text messages can motivate Type 2 diabetics to lower their blood sugar levels, according to research at the Scripps Whittier Diabetes Institute.
Researchers randomly assigned 126 people whose blood sugar levels were not well controlled into two groups, one that received standard care and a second that received up to three motivational diabetes-related text messages per day.
After six months, those who received the texts had reduced their “A1c” blood glucose levels from 9.5 percent to 8.5 percent, a full percentage point. Those receiving standard care saw only a 0.2 percentage point decrease.
While the change was judged statistically significant, neither group was able to bring its average glucose level down to the recommended threshold of 5.7 percent.
Still, text messages about diet and exercise or reminders to check their blood sugar levels had about the same effects as some glucose-lowering medications.
Some of the texts regularly asked participants to text back their blood sugar numbers after checking them. Those who did, researchers found, had better success at lowering glucose.
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