Continuous glucose monitors are in vogue. But do you really need to track your blood sugar?

The Abbott Lingo wearable device can be worn for continuous glucose monitoring. Courtesy of Abbott

A quarter-size device that tracks the rise and fall of sugar in your blood is the latest source of hope — and hype — in the growing buzz around wearable health technology.

Continuous glucose monitors, small patches that provide 24-hour insight into concentrations of sugar in the blood, could be a tool for Americans to “take control over their own health,” Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently told federal lawmakers.

“They can take responsibility,” Kennedy said. “They can begin to make good judgments about their diet, about their physical activity, about the way they live their lives.”

The devices have lifesaving benefits for people with diabetes, the disease caused when blood s