Diabetic Seniors » blood glucose

Blood Glucose Monitors

DiabeticSeniors.com — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 06:32:00 +0000

For people with a diagnosed diabetic condition, blood glucose monitors are a part of the everyday routine. With the specific instructions of a trained medical professional, most patients will be asked to use their blood glucose monitors between two and four times a day at specific times to determine how their blood is handling its glucose.

With a small blood sample (taken usually from a fingertip), the blood glucose monitors will allow you and your doctor to better understand and make adjustments to your diet, exercise and medications to control your efforts in managing your diabetes. By no means the definitive word in how your health is progressing, blood glucose monitors will offer a repeated view into spikes or drops in your daily glucose levels, and make it easier to develop a plan that works more efficiently for you.

As with any diabetic testing methods, any questions or concerns you have about blood glucose monitors or their results should be referred to your trained medical professional for guidance and advice. As of January 2005, Medicare or other insurance providers may cover the cost of your blood glucose monitors in full, allowing you to save money and effort on a guaranteed diabetic necessity. Consult your doctor to determine the type of blood glucose monitors best for your situation, and start to take control of your best opportunities.

Please be aware that this page on blood glucose monitors is meant for
informational purposes only, please consult a physician for more specific questions pertaining to individual cases.

4 Things You Should Know About Blood Glucose Control

editor — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:34:51 +0000

Blood glucose control — testing and controlling your blood sugar — is essential to a diabetic’s lifestyle. If you are newly diagnosed as diabetic, there are certain things you should know about controlling your blood glucose.

1. Blood Glucose Control Is a Way of Life

Diabetes is all about your blood glucose level. With your physician, you’ve probably already identified a target range for your blood sugar. If you are prediabetic, you might not have to monitor your blood glucose every day. If you have type 2 diabetes, you might have track your blood sugar once a day or less. And if you have type I diabetes, you have to monitor your glucose level several dimes a day.

Regardless of how seldom or often you have to monitor your blood glucose, the only way to prevent your disease from becoming worse is by integrating blood glucose control into your new diabetic lifestyle. As a diabetic, you alone are in charge of your own life and health.

2. Blood Glucose Control Turns You into a Food Juggler

Your body produces increased levels of blood glucose during certain activities or situations such as when you eat, exercise or become involved in a stressful situation. To reduce the elevated blood sugar level, you have to be aware of what foods contain carbohydrates and the speed at which your body turns those carbohydrates into blood glucose. For example, your body turns the carbohydrates in white bread into blood sugar faster than they do the carbohydrates in whole wheat bread. As a result, you juggle foods containing fats, proteins and carbohydrates to create balanced meals that lower your blood glucose to keep it within your target range.

3. Blood Glucose Control Turns You into a Food Expert

To maintain your blood glucose target range, you have to eat a balanced meal at regular times throughout the day. Those meals must contain a balanced mix of fats, proteins and carbohydrates. If you’re not already, you should be familiar with the Diabetes Food Pyramid, which differs from the one published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

To maintain proper blood glucose control, you should know certain facts about foods such as:

Sugars and starches have the same effect on your blood glucose level.
It is more important to monitor the carbohydrates you eat than the sugars.
Fat-free products contain more carbohydrates than similar ones that contain fat.
Potatoes are considered starches — not vegetables — in the Diabetes Food Pyramid.

By becoming a food expert, you can maintain proper blood glucose control and live a full, healthy and productive life.

4. Blood Glucose Control Helps You Prevent Future Problems

If you don’t maintain blood glucose control, you can miss the subtle signs your body uses that tell you that your blood sugar is above your target range. If your blood glucose remains elevated for too long, serious problems can develop and thus, lead to complications and even death. Blood sugar testing can identify a potential problem; you can then be proactive at reducing your glucose level and avert the problem.

Blood Sugar Meter

DiabeticSeniors.com — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 02:04:00 +0000

A blood sugar meter (also referred to as a glucose meter or glucometer) helps diabetics monitor daily blood levels. The blood sugar meter varies in price, functionality, and dimensions. Before making a purchase, consider the degree of blood needed for each test, where samples are taken, storage and speed of the sugar meter.

Liberty Medical, a leading supplier of diabetic testing supplies, has a number of choices to consider. Blood sugar meter brands offered by Liberty Medical are Medisense, LifeScan and Therasense. You may need to have test strips, lancets, control solutions and meter batteries. Most device manufacturers at least provide you with blood glucose testing strips. Consider details like batteries. In some cases, a blood sugar meter may require batteries that are difficult to replace.

Diabetic Seniors recommends consulting your physician before selecting a blood sugar meter.

Sugar Test

DiabeticSeniors.com — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 07:55:00 +0000

A sugar test will measure the amount of glucose present in the bloodstream, an important indication for your body’s ability to produce insulin. There are a variety of methods to take a sugar test, and it might be taken on either a specifically empty or full stomach, or sometimes after ingesting a sugared drink.

A whole blood sugar test is available in easy-to-use kits for at-home testing, and requires a small blood sample (usually taken from the fingertip) to be read by a specially designed glucose meter. A fasting plasma sugar test is performed by taking a blood sample from a vein after eight hours of fasting, and will typically be performed in your doctor’s office. A two-hour postprandial sugar test is performed two hours after eating a meal containing a specific amount of sugar, though this method has factors that are hard to control.

The sugar test with which people already diagnosed with diabetes will be most familiar, will be the whole blood sugar test, which can be easily self-administered in your home with proper instruction. This specific sugar test will show daily levels of glucose in your blood and how your specific diet and exercise program affects these levels. The whole blood sugar test will give both you and your doctor important information on how to best design a program to help control your diabetes, making it easier to live a long and rewarding life free from the complications associated with diabetes.

Please be aware that this page on diabetes home testing is meant for informational purposes only, please consult a physician for more specific questions pertaining to individual cases.