For every diabetic having knowledge of your own glucose (sugar) levels can be vitally important in controlling your diabetes. The current treatments in diabetes, whether medicines or diet, focus on trying to keep blood glucose levels as close to normal as possible.
To gain knowledge of your body's glucose levels there are 2 main methods, testing for urine glucose and testing for blood glucose. Which method you use depends a lot on why you are testing and what your doctor has recommended you use.
Blood glucose meters
Testing blood glucose levels has become very simple and very accessible thanks to a whole range of blood glucose meters on the market. Checking glucose in this way is the most accurate method. This is especially important for patients with Type 1 Diabetes (Insulin dependent) and some patients with Type 2 Diabetes requiring insulin. This is because some of these patients can make adjustments to their insulin dose depending on their blood glucose test results. Also patients with diabetes may experience very low blood glucose levels called hypoglycaemia or very high blood glucose levels called hyperglycaemia. Often there are signs and symptoms of both. Using a blood glucose meter to provide an exact reading can help reassure or confirm that action must be taken.
How to use a blood glucose monitor
The 2 main meters on the market at present are Accu-chek Aviva and One Touch Ultra. Both meters use the same basic principle. A blood sample is taken usually from the finger using a finger pricking device. The sample is placed on a specially coated test strip which is then inserted into the blood glucose meter. Within a minute the meter will give you a result. The main drawback of this method is that it does require pricking your finger each time to take a blood sample. This, for some, can be a nuisance. However, with recent advances in meter technology the amount of blood required for Accu-chek Aviva and One Touch Ultra is minimal. This in turn means less pain when pricking the finger.
Urine testing
Urine glucose testing has the advantage of being painless but the downside of not being as accurate as blood glucose testing.
For some, urine testing is a more than adequate method to test glucose especially for diabetics who do not need exact blood glucose levels. Glucose only appears in the urine (for most people) when glucose levels in the blood reach above 10 mmol/L (180 mg/dl). At this point the kidney can no longer reabsorb all the glucose being filtered and glucose appears in the urine. If your blood glucose levels are below 10 mmol/L (180 mg/dL) then urine test strips will not provide a result. Thus always use a blood glucose meter when testing for low blood glucose levels (hypoglycaemia) as it will give you an exact reading regardless of what your blood glucose is.
How to use urine testing strips
The main 2 makes of urine glucose test strips are Clinistix and Diastix. Visit http://www.glucosemeters4u.com/diastix.htm to learn more about how to use the urine test strips.
Interpreting your results
How you interpret your results very much depends on the goals your doctor has set out for you and what you are testing for. A key point to remember is that blood glucose levels will be affected by food and diabetic medication.
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