Other Blood And Urine Tests Reveal Trends In Diabetes Management.

For every diabetic patient monitoring their own blood glucose or blood sugar levels can be vitally important in controlling their diabetes. The current treatments in increased blood sugar level or diabetes whether medicines or diet focus on trying to keep blood sugar levels as close to normal as possible. There are two main ways to monitor the glucose levels of the body, testing for "blood" glucose and testing for "urine" glucose. Both glucose testing methods have their advantages and disadvantages. Which method people choose depends on what their doctor advises them to go for.

Testing blood sugar or glucose levels has become very simple and very easily accessible; thanks to a whole range of blood glucose meters on the market. Testing the blood glucose in this way is the most proper and accurate method. This is especially essential for patients with Type 1 Diabetes or which is medically termed as the Insulin dependent diabetes and some patients with Type 2 Diabetes requiring insulin. This is because some of these patients of blood sugar can make adjustments to their insulin dose depending on the blood glucose test results. Also diabetes patients with diabetes may experience very low blood glucose levels called "hypoglycaemia" or very high blood glucose levels called "hyperglycaemia". Often there are a number of common signs and symptoms of both. Using a blood glucose meter to get an exact reading of the glucose level can help reassure or confirm that action must be taken.

The 2 main glucose testing meters on the market at present are Accu-chek Aviva and One Touch Ultra. Both of these testing meters use the same basic principle. A blood sample is taken usually from the finger using a finger pricking device. The sample of blood is placed on a specially coated test strip which is then inserted into the blood glucose meter. Within a minute the meter will give people a result. The main drawback of this method of testing is that it does require pricking the finger each time to take a blood sample. This for some of the people can be nuisance. With recent advances however in the meter testing technology the amount of blood sample required for Accu-chek Aviva and One Touch Ultra is minimal. This method in turn leads to less pain when pricking the finger.

Urine strips in blood glucose level testing purpose have the advantage of being pain free but the disadvantage of not bring as accurate as a blood glucose meter. For some of sufferers, urine testing in diabetes is a more then adequate method to test glucose especially for diabetics who do not need exact blood glucose levels. Glucose commonly takes time to appear in the urine. Thus it is always better to use a blood glucose meter when testing for low blood glucose levels or hypoglycaemia as it will give the diabetic patient an accurate reading at that time. The main two method makes of glucose testing strips are Clinstix and Diastix. People can learn about Clinistix how to use the urine strips online. How one interprets his or her results depends very much on the goals their doctor has set out for them and what they are testing for.

• Emma Bullock
• 20/03/2009, 6:59 PM
• 0 Comments