Home Blood Glucose Monitoring For People With Diabetes

Home Blood Glucose Monitoring for People with Diabetes

Interpreting the Results of Your Glucometer
Checking your blood sugar at home, sometimes called self blood glucose monitoring (SBGM), is an important step in diabetes management. Because individualized diabetes care is associated with better diabetes management, it is important to get your doctor's advice on how often you should test your blood sugar. This includes recommendations for what time of the day you should test your blood sugar, and your personal target ranges for blood sugar control. This article is intended to provide general guidelines for SBGM in order to enhance discussion with your doctor. It is not a substitute for your physician's guidance.
When testing your blood sugar at home, it is important to talk to your doctor or certified diabetes educator about each of the following, which we'll discuss in detail below:
Choosing the best glucose meter for you
Using good technique when testing your blood sugar
When should you test your blood sugar?
How to use and interpret the numbers on the screen
Proper disposal of used testing supplies
How do I choose the best glucometer?
Today, there are many quality-made home blood glucose meters on the market. Choosing the right one for you can be a little overwhelming, so here are some factors to consider.
Many health insurance plans offer some type of coverage for diabetes testing supplies. However, in many cases, your insurance company may recommend a "preferred meter" or a "preferred brand" that must be used in order to avoid paying a high co-pay. It is best to call your insurance company and ask if there is a preferred b Continue reading

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10 tips to manage your diabetes

The problem with living with a chronic condition like diabetes is that it’s, well, chronic. It doesn’t go away. Bridget McNulty, type 1 diabetic and editor of Sweet Life diabetes lifestyle magazine and online community, offers 10 tips to make living with diabetes a little easier:
1. Take your medication
This one is so obvious that I shouldn’t have to mention it, but it probably has the biggest impact on any diabetic’s life. Insulin – whether in pill form for type 2 diabetics or injections or a pump for type 1 diabetics – is literally life-saving. Take your medication properly, and you can live a long, happy, healthy life with diabetes. Don’t take your medication and you can get very ill, very fast.
2. Eat a healthy diet
Again, it’s not rocket science, but it is vitally important. People with diabetes don’t have to eat a special ‘diabetes diet’, but they do have to eat the same healthy diet that we should all be eating: little to no fast food, junk food, fizzy drinks, sweets and cakes, lots of fresh vegetables, some fruit, good quality proteins, the right kind of fats and a small amount of wholegrain carbs. We all know that refined carbohydrates like white rice and pasta and doughnuts and cookies are bad for us – as diabetics, it’s important to know this and respect it. That’s not to say there’s no room for treats in life, but I always stick to my mom’s advice: “everything in moderation"
3. Exercise regularly
Moderate exercise three times a week is the magic key to a healthy life with diabetes, in my opinion. We can all find half an hour thr Continue reading

Diabetes poses growing challenge in Australia

Diabetes is the fastest growing chronic condition in Australia and the three types of diabetes — type 1, type 2 and gestational diabetes — are all increasing.
The most common, type 2, is the fastest increasing, associated with modifiable lifestyle risk factors (especially obesity) and strong genetic and family-related risk factors. Often, people with type 2 diabetes show no symptoms, and without regular health checks it does more damage.
This is a condition that can lead to more serious problems such as blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks and stroke. In 2011, according to statistics released this year, it was estimated that about 730,000 Australians had diagnosed diabetes.
Of those, 1.7 per cent (12,300) had lower limbs amputated as a result. With more than 280 people developing diabetes every day, you should be paying close attention to your health and have a regular GP, especially if you are already at risk.
Researchers led by Anna Hatton from the University of Queensland want to help diabetics who have foot nerve damage improve their balance and physical activity.
Hatton, from the school of health and rehabilitation sciences, says the international research effort will look at the use of shoe insoles to provide practical assistance to those in need. “Diabetic peripheral neuropathy, a consequence of diabetes, can increase the risk of falls and serious injuries requiring hospitalisation,” she says.
“The quality of signals transmitted from the feet to the brain, when damaged, disrupts the vital cues required to help people remain upright.
“Using shoe insole Continue reading

Frequent urinating at night may be sign of diabetes – Doctor

A resident doctor, Dr Segun Fadare, on Tuesday said urinating frequently at night could be a warning sign of high blood sugar level, the hallmark of Type 2 Diabetes
Fadare, who works with the Babcock University Teaching Hospital Annex, Ibadan said, “Needing to go to the bathroom once at night is considered normal, however, urinating more than once at night could indicate an underlying health condition like diabetes.
“Having diabetes leads to excess sugar builds up in your blood which causes the body to excrete the excess glucose through the urine.
“This triggers more frequent urination as the body tries to get rid of the excess amount of glucose and leave the body dehydrated and need to drink more fluid and urinate even more.”
According to him, while Type 2 diabetes may not be noticed easily, other signs to watch out for include excessive thirst, unexplainable tiredness and weight loss.
“Early diagnosis of diabetes is important to prevent complications including organ damage, heart disease, stroke and kidney failure.
“It is important to watch out for the warning signs, especially if you have increased the risk for diabetes in order to control your blood sugar level and prevent complications.”
Fadare advised that people should go for regular checkups for early diagnosis.
(NAN) Continue reading

What to Know About the ADA's 2018 Standards of Medical Care if You Have Diabetes

Living with poorly controlled blood sugar levels may lead to potentially serious health complications for people with diabetes — including diabetic neuropathy, diabetic retinopathy, amputations, depression, sexual issues, heart disease, stroke, and even death. But luckily, if you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, managing your diet, lifestyle, and treatment well can help you stabilize blood sugar and ultimately reduce the risk of these potential future health issues.
To do this, it’s crucial to stay up to date on current treatment standards in the United States — and that starts with turning to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), which releases its Standards of Medical Care each year.
What Are the ADA Standards of Care and Why Should You Care?
In the ADA’s latest guidelines, released online in December 2017, the organization lists updates in areas related to heart disease and diabetes, new health technology, and more.
The standards reflect the latest evidence available to help improve care and health outcomes in people with diabetes, says William T. Cefalu, MD, the chief scientific, medical, and mission officer at the ADA who is based in New Orleans, Louisiana. “The new evidence that has been available this year from published work has been incredible,” Dr. Cefalu says.
Although the Standards of Medical Care are primarily geared toward the healthcare community, your diabetes management can benefit if you know about them, says Robert A. Gabbay, MD, PhD, the chief medical officer of the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston.
Following is everything you need to know Continue reading