Can monsoon rains disrupt diabetes control? Diabetologist Dr Shalini Jaggi reveals 4 tips for preparation

Learn how monsoon rains affect diabetes management and essential tips for using continuous glucose monitoring to navigate seasonal changes effectively.

As the rains bring welcome relief from the summer heat, they also usher in a season of unique health challenges, especially for people living with diabetes. Changes in weather, increased humidity, greater susceptibility to infections, and disruptions to daily routines can all influence diabetes management in subtle yet significant ways. With more than 77 million adults in India living with diabetes, according to the International Diabetes Federation, understanding how seasonal shifts can affect glucose management is becoming increasingly important for maintaining long-term health and avoiding complications.

GlucoMe records glucose measurements and insulin doses on cloud using the patient’s iOS/Android smartphone and sends alerts and compliance recommendations to optimise diabetes control.

By Tavishi Dogra

Tavishi Dogra is a Deputy Chief Content Producer, Health & Wellness, at Hindustan Times. She has over 9 years of experience writing about fitness, nutrition, and mental well-being, translating medical research and expert insights into practical advice readers can trust.

Career journey and experience
Tavishi began her health journalism journey in 2017, and has since reported for RSTV, Financial Express, Jagran, HT Media Labs and Zee. She joined Hindustan Times to simplify wellness subjects by cutting through jargon.

From decoding health trends and interviewing doctors to testing fitness routines herself, Tavishi always approaches content with one filter: “Will this help someone make a better decision today?”

Subject expertise
With 9+ years tracking India’s health conversations, Tavishi knows the gap between clinical advice and daily life. She knows fads from fundamentals and curates science-backed, expert-recommended solutions.

In fitness, she breaks down bodyweight training, recovery, and posture fixes for desk-bound readers. In nutrition, she translates guidelines into affordable, desi meal tweaks. In mental well-being, she focuses on stigma-free, actionable tools — all backed by research, expert input, and lived context.

Education and professional background
Tavishi holds a Master’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication and began her career reporting on public affairs for broadcast. Those early years in policy and TV shaped how she writes today: fast, factual, and human-first.

Editorial Philosophy
I write with one single goal: To simplify health in a world full of noise by finding what’s actually doable, safe, and evidence-based for my readers. I test claims against research and user experiences. When all else fails, I speak to the expert who sees 50 patients a day, not the one with the most followers.

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When routines change, monitoring matters

During the rains, maintaining a routine can become harder. Heavy showers can limit outdoor activity, travel disruptions can affect meal times, and changes in food choices or seasonal illnesses can affect glucose levels.

Yet these fluctuations may not always be obvious. A glucose reading taken at one point in the day provides useful information for that moment. Still, it may not show how levels change over the course of the day or in response to meals, activity, stress, or illness.

Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) can provide a broader view by tracking glucose throughout the day. Sensor-based systems can provide real-time, minute-by-minute glucose information on a compatible smartphone, helping people see not only where their glucose is, but also the direction in which it is moving. Optional alerts can notify users when glucose levels are too high or too low, adding another layer of visibility on busy or disrupted days.

“Diabetes management is gradually evolving from a reactive approach to a more proactive one. For people living with diabetes, a single glucose reading tells us what is happening at one moment. In contrast, continuous glucose monitoring can reveal patterns across the day. Seeing how glucose responds to food, activity, stress, or illness, along with real-time trends and alerts for highs or lows, can give people useful context, particularly when routines change during the monsoon. These insights can support more informed conversations with healthcare professionals and a more personalized approach to diabetes management,” Dr Shalini Jaggi, Consultant Diabetologist & Director, Lifecare Diabetes Center, Kirti Nagar, N Delhi, tells Health Shots.

Moving beyond snapshots to understanding patterns

1. As diabetes care continues to evolve, the focus is shifting beyond isolated glucose readings towards a deeper understanding of glucose patterns and trends over time. Access to minute-by-minute glucose information can help people better understand how their levels respond to everyday factors such as meals, physical activity, stress, or illness. Trend data provides additional context, indicating whether glucose levels are rising, falling, or remaining stable, helping individuals make more informed decisions about their daily management.
2. As access to digital health tools continues to expand, there are opportunities to make diabetes care more personalized, data-informed, and responsive to each individual's lifestyle and circumstances. Connected digital platforms are also improving the use of glucose information. By enabling secure data sharing with healthcare professionals and, where appropriate, family members or caregivers, these tools can support more meaningful conversations and provide a clearer picture of glucose patterns between clinic visits.
3. Advances such as longer-wear sensors, real-time glucose monitoring, optional high- and low-glucose alerts, and connected care digital ecosystems are helping bring these insights closer to everyday life. Together, they can support greater awareness of glucose patterns and provide information that may help people better understand how daily habits and routine changes affect their diabetes management.
4. While the monsoon season can make routines less predictable, diabetes management does not have to become more challenging. With greater awareness, access to meaningful glucose insights, and ongoing collaboration with healthcare professionals, people living with diabetes can be better equipped to navigate seasonal fluctuations as well as the day-to-day realities of managing a lifelong condition.

(Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.)