Diabetes - ways to monitor your glucose levels

                                                                                         

A crucial part of controlling diabetes is understanding your glucose levels. Whether your diabetes is controlled by diet or by medicines the ideal goal will be to keep glucose levels as close to normal as possible.

The 2 main methods to check glucose levels are blood glucose testing and urine glucose testing. Which method is used depends largely on the individual. Your physician will be in the best position to let you know which method is suited for you.

Blood glucose monitors

Checking blood glucose levels has become a lot easier then it used to be thanks to a wide selection of blood glucose monitors on the market. Testing blood glucose with a monitor is the most accurate method. An accurate blood glucose reading will be very important for diabetic patients with Type 1 Diabetes (also called Insulin dependent diabetes) and some patients with Type 2 Diabetes who need insulin. Some of these patients may be able to adjust the dose of insulin they receive depending on the result of their blood glucose test. Also, diabetic patients can experience hyperglycaemia (very high blood glucose levels) or hypoglycaemia (very low blood glucose levels). There are often key signs of both. Using a blood glucose monitor can help provide an accurate reading to help confirm or reassure that action must be taken.

Using a blood glucose meter

Nearly all the monitors on the market work in a similar way. They require a finger to be pricked using a lancing device, the resulting blood is placed on a test strip which is then inserted into a monitor. After 30-60 seconds the monitor will display the blood glucose reading. At the present time all the monitors on market require a finger to be pricked to test blood glucose levels. For some, this can be a painful task. The latest monitors from the 2 main players in the blood glucose monitors market Lifescan's One Touch Ultra and Roche's Accu-chek Aviva are designed to work using the very small amounts of blood. What this translates to is less painful testing.

Urine glucose testing

The advantage of urine glucose testing is that it is pain free but the drawback is that it is not as accurate as a blood glucose testing.

For some diabetics, who do not need exact blood glucose readings, testing urine glucose is more than an adequate method to monitor their diabetes with. Often these patients are stable with little or no fluctuations in their blood glucose readings over time and have been told by their doctor that urine testing is suitable. However, glucose only enters into the urine (for most people) when glucose levels in the blood reach above 180 mg/dL (10 mmol/L). This means if blood glucose levels are below 180 mg/dL (10 mmol/L) then the urine test will not provide a result. So for diabetics that need a reading whatever their levels are they need to use a blood glucose monitor and for those wanting to confirm that they have very low blood glucose levels, hypoglycaemia it is essential a blood glucose monitor is used.

How to use urine glucose strips

The main urine strips for testing urine glucose are Multistix, Clinistix and Diastix. Visit http://www.glucosemeters4u.com/Clinistix.htm to learn how to use the urine strips.

What do my blood glucose readings tell me?

What your readings tell you really depends on the goals your doctor has set out for you and what you are testing for. An important point to bear in mind is that blood glucose levels will be affected by food and diabetic medication.

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