People with diabetes need to have their blood glucose levels monitored throughout the day. This can help patients decide on the structure of their diet and whether they need to adjust their medications, as well as avoid complications associated with diabetes, such as:
- Heart disease
- stroke
- hypertension
- High cholesterol
- Blindness
- Kidney disease
- Skin problems
Ways to test blood sugar
- Glucose self-test: Perform a blood glucose self-test as often as recommended by your doctor. Prick your finger with a tool with a needle, place a drop of blood on the test strip, and insert the test strip into your handheld device for measurement.
Record the results of the test for your doctor to see. Based on the results, the patient and the doctor can discuss and adjust the diet, exercise, or medication dosage.
- Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) testing: Patients should have blood tests at their doctor’s office 2 times a year, or as recommended by their doctor.
The test results show the patient’s average blood glucose control over the past 2 to 3 months. The patient and doctor need this test to determine how well the patient’s diabetes treatment plan is working and to change the treatment plan as appropriate.
- It can also be interpreted this way: the glucose self-test is like a daily snapshot of blood glucose control, while the glycated hemoglobin test is the big picture.
- An ambulatory glucose monitoring system: When this test is chosen, the physician places a miniature sensor under the patient’s skin and checks the blood glucose level every 5 minutes. Every few days, the data is transmitted to a pager-like display that the patient wears.
Patients still need to perform daily glucose self-checks, and a continuous glucose monitoring system cannot replace daily testing. But it can provide physicians with more glucose trends that self-testing can’t show.