Self-monitoring blood glucose

Self-monitoring of blood glucose is the process of monitoring your own blood glucose with a glucose meter.

You'll need to test your blood glucose with a glucose meter. First place a small sample of blood on a disposable test strip and place the strip in the meter. The test strips are designed and coated with chemicals such as glucose oxidase, dehydrogenase, or hexokinase that combine with glucose in blood.

The glucose meter measures how much glucose is in your blood. Some glucose meters do measurement in a different ways, some measure the amount of electricity that can pass through the blood sample or measure how much light reflects from it.

The glucose meter displays the glucose level in numbers. Several new models can record and store the test results that you took previously. Also, some models can connect the glucose meter to personal computers, by that you are allow to store test results in your PC or print them out.

How to choose a glucose meter

How to choose a glucose meter.

There are at least 25 different glucose meters are commercially available now. However, they are different in several ways including these criterias:


1) The amount of blood needed for each test
2) The speed of the testing
3) The ability to save all the test results in the glucose meter's memory
4) The cost of the glucose meter
5) The cost of the test strips that being used
6) The overall size of the glucose meter.

A latest models of the glucose meters often have the special features that make them easier to use than older models. Some of the new model meters are allow you to get blood from places other than your fingertip, which from the Alternative Site Testing.

Also, several new models will show you the timing automatically, error codes and indication, or barcode readers to help you with calibration. On top of that, some glucose meters now have a large display screen or spoken instructions for people with visual impairments.

information about glucose test

Do you ever feel like you know just enough about glucose test to be dangerous? Let's see if we can fill in some of the gaps with the latest info from glucose test experts.

WHAT is pre-diabetes? Pre-diabetes is a condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Pre-diabetes is a key stage in the development of type 2 diabetes.

However, not everyone with pre-diabetes goes on to develop type 2 diabetes. Pre-diabetes is characterized by disturbance in blood sugar levels as measured by impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) or impaired fasting glucose (IFG). Patients can have one or both of these conditions to be considered pre-diabetic. The more authentic information about glucose test you know, the more likely people are to consider you a glucose test expert. Read on for even more glucose test facts that you can share.

Worldwide, 230 million people have diabetes and in 2003, more than 300 million people were estimated to have pre-diabetes. By 2025, it is estimated that approximately 500 million people will have pre-diabetes. At present, Southeast Asia has the highest number of people with pre-diabetes. By 2025, it is estimated that Southeast Asia will continue to have the highest prevalence of pre-diabetes (13.5 percent), followed by Europe (10.9 percent).

How is pre-diabetes diagnosed? Pre-diabetes may not cause easily recognized symptoms and can only be diagnosed with blood sugar tests such as the fasting plasma glucose test (FPG) which measures a persona blood sugar first thing in the morning before eating and the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) which measures a persona blood sugar after fasting and again two hours after drinking a sugar-rich drink.
Now might be a good time to write down the main points covered above. The act of putting it down on paper will help you remember what's important about glucose test.

what is glucose test

Diabetes has acquired its name from the Greek word “siphon”. Diabetes is a disorder of the metabolism and the endocrine system, and is a blood-related disease. It has two forms: Diabetes mellitus (from the Greek word for sugar) and Diabetes insipidus. The main causes of this disorder are that either the body does not produce enough insulin, as happens in type 1 diabetes, or it does not use the available insulin in a proper manner, as in type 2 diabetes. Insulin is a hormone that helps the body convert glucose into energy. The factors which contribute to diabetes include lack of exercise, excessive weight, age, poor diet and, most importantly, genetics.

The symptoms of diabetes are fatigue, as the body does not get enough energy due to non-absorption of glucose, unquenchable thirst due to frequent urination, and weakening of the eyesight as a consequence of loss of excess body fluid in the form of urine. A diabetic person is also susceptible to frequent infections, like urinary tract infections, colds and flu. Another symptom is a tingling or burning feeling in the hands and feet. Most of the time diabetes goes unchecked because the symptoms are harmless.

A number of tests have been devised to help find out if you are diabetic. The fasting plasma glucose test, done in the morning, is a relatively cheap and easy test. It measures the blood sugar levels when one is not eating. The random plasma glucose test does not require fasting and can be done at any time. This type of test is the easiest and does not require any preparation. The oral glucose tolerance test involves checking blood glucose while fasting and then asking the patient to drink a super-sweet solution, after which the test is repeated, the results are compared to the standard, and if your reading is higher than normal then you have diabetes. Other tests involve glycated hemoglobin, urine tests and finger-prick tests.

It is sad that diabetes is a life-long disease. Even if you undergo treatment in the form of medication, diet change and exercise to get your sugar levels under control, you are still diabetic.