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Do you remember as a child when you and your best friend decided
to become “blood sisters” and you each stabbed your finger with a
pin to get a drop of blood that you smashed together? It was a sign
of bravery and everlasting friendship that required all of the nerve
a kid had to poke her finger hard enough to draw blood. It hurt,
too, if only for a second. Now imagine having to do that 7 times a
day or more and you have a bit of an idea of what a person with
diabetes goes through.
Most of the diabetic glucose meters that are on the market today
still require a few drops of blood from a fingertip. There are some
that can use blood from alternative sites, but they still require
the use of a lancet to poke the site and draw a little blood. There
is at least one machine available by prescription called a Lasette
that uses a laser to prick the skin and draw blood. Although it has
been FDA approved for 10 years, it is not in wide use.
After you prick your skin with a lancet, a small razor sharp
instrument designed for personal use, a little bit of blood is
dropped onto the specially treated test strips. These strips are
treated with chemicals that react to the glucose in the blood. The
test strips are placed into meters that then read them, with
electricity or light usually.
The meter then displays the results on a screen. The diabetic
glucose monitors that you can buy today are available with many
options. Some have lighted screens, they can have large screens or
small screens and some record the data to download into your pc to
track your daily/weekly/monthly results. Some have software
compatible with your doctor’s computer so he can see the results,
too. There are many choices in a very wide price range.
Keeping track of blood glucose levels is the best way to control
your diabetes. For those who have diabetes, this testing is a way of
life and the process becomes second nature.
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