Blood glucose Meters

Glucose meters help people with diabetes check their blood sugar. Blood glucose meters measure the amount of glucose in the blood and serve as an aid in monitoring the effectiveness of diabetes management at home or in a clinical setting. Checking blood glucose is a critical step in managing diabetes. Frequent testing and good recordkeeping give people the most accurate picture of diabetes control.

Glucose meters must be reliable because if diabetes is not well-controlled, complicatiosn such as kidney failure, amputations, and blindness can occur.

Living with diabetes.

What to look for when buying a Blood Glucose Meter

• Testing area: Some blood glucose meters allow you to test on your finger, forearm or palm.
• Sample size: (A blood glucose meter may need between .3 and 1.5 microliters of blood)
• Speed: Some blood glucose meters give results in 5 seconds.
• Ease of Use
• Before and after mean averages: Some blood glucose meters can give you a before and after meal averages.
• Suitability for use by children under ten years old: Young kids may have a hard time opening foil-wrapped strips and often forget to write down the results. Meters that require smaller blood volumes are more suitable for young kids than meters that require larger blood volumes. .
• Suitability for use by children over ten years old: Older kids can take on the foil-wrapped strips and meters that require more blood. Meters lacking a data port require the user to write everything down, which some people forget.

Regardless of the blood glucose meter that you decide to use, you should have to pay almost nothing for it. Manufacturers often discount the meters. Always compare prices and features before you buy.

Safety Precautions

• Do not drop the meter (dropping, especially in water can lead to misinterpretations of glucose test results and dosage errors in insulin or in oral medication)
• Avoid jarring the meter
• Be careful when changing the meter's day and time (be careful not to accidently change a unit of measure when changing the date and time)

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