Only 10% of T1Ds Use a Continuous Glucose Monitor in Korea
- Nathan Kim
- Oct 22
- 2 min read
When I was diagnosed with T1D, after 1 week of learning how to measure my blood sugar with the needle, finger prick, the hospital in the us introduced me to the Dexcom, connected it to my phone, and it is a life changer. I still do the finger prick when I change my Dexcom, cause for a day, it is not as accurate, but most of the time, it is just the Dexcom that I rely on. Imagining not having a Continuous Glucose Monitor is something I do not even want to do. However, upon arriving in Korea, I became part of the T1D organization, and I was quite shocked to learn that only 10% of T1D patients in Korea wear a Dexcom or Continuous Glucose Monitor. One reason is that Korean schools don't allow students to have phones in the classroom. If you want to have one, they sometimes even require you to tell the whole class why you need the phone, meaning you have to literally tell the whole class, including your parents, that you have Type 1 Diabetes (T1D). But that is something that you may want to keep private. You may not be open to sharing that information. I mean, it makes me so sad. Why do the schools have to be this way? Why does everything have to be what they call fair, when this is actually discrimination?
The minister of education is doing new things these days, and the T1D organization, of which I am also a member, is working to change this. I really wish that we could make this change. Because we did not choose to be this way. It is not our fault, and we just need to check our blood sugar, that’s all.
