Blood-sugar monitoring devices could soon be on the arms of millions of Americans after regulators cleared two new devices for use without a prescription. Is it a way to improve our health? Or is the data just another distraction?

In the middle of the night last June, Cindy Bekkedam woke up to the sound of an unfamiliar alarm. It was loud, like an emergency alert, and it was coming from her phone. More specifically, it was coming from a newly installed app linked to a glucose sensor embedded in her arm.

According to this app, her blood sugar had dropped to a concerning low while she slept, which had triggered the alarm.

“So I got up in the middle of the night and ate a granola bar,” she said.

Continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), which monitor glucose levels in real time, have been used by millions of diabetics for years. As a dietitian in Ontario, Canada, Ms Bekkedam had hers installed to better understand the technology for her patients with diabetes.