Whether the blood sugar is balanced is an important criterion to measure the health of diabetic patients. Timely and accurate monitoring of blood sugar is very important for diabetic patients to grasp and treat their condition, so diabetic patients should learn how to self-monitor their blood sugar. So, what are the benefits of self-monitoring blood glucose? And what knowledge must be mastered?
The importance of self-monitoring
Complications of diabetes seriously endanger the health of patients. Many patients, especially some middle-aged patients, who are busy at work, under pressure, or for some other special reasons, pay little attention to diabetes in its early stage, when there are no obvious complications, and do not have a good exercise plan and diet plan, plus do not take medication on time, resulting in some serious complications when it is too late to regret. For diabetic patients, there is a very effective management tool for complications – self-glucose monitoring, which is a very easy way for patients to detect their own blood glucose abnormalities early in their self-management.
The benefits of self-monitoring are
1. You can know the fluctuation of blood glucose in your body at any time and anywhere, so that you can better cooperate with your doctor for diet control and medication treatment.
2. Patients who use insulin therapy can adjust their insulin dose several times in small amounts according to their blood glucose values and optimize their insulin treatment plan.
3.Prevent, identify and manage hypoglycemic events, especially unconscious hypoglycemia, to improve treatment safety.
4.Help patients to achieve the standard of treatment, achieve better treatment effect and build up the confidence to overcome the disease.
Postprandial blood sugar is more important than fasting blood sugar
Many people only know to do fasting blood sugar, but diabetes in China, based on dietary habits and other reasons, is characterized by a more pronounced rise in postprandial blood sugar, especially in elderly patients, and only checking fasting blood sugar, 60% to 70% of early patients will miss the diagnosis. Therefore, if you suspect that you are diabetic, you must do fasting blood glucose and postprandial blood glucose, which is the gold standard to confirm the diagnosis of diabetes. Monitoring postprandial blood glucose can, on the one hand, understand the status of blood glucose control and, on the other hand, is important for preventing the occurrence of chronic complications of diabetes. Long-term elevation of postprandial hyperglycemia can cause microvascular and macroangiopathy, which is caused by the toxic effect of glucose. Postprandial hyperglycemia, as well as blood glucose fluctuations, can lead to vascular endothelial damage. The damage of vascular endothelium can cause atherosclerosis or aggravate the process of atherosclerosis. In turn, it can lead to thrombosis, which is a serious threat to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health. Therefore, controlling postprandial hyperglycemia is very important for blood glucose to reach the standard, and postprandial blood glucose monitoring should not be underestimated. Diabetic patients should monitor their blood glucose well on the basis of parallel diet and exercise, and take medication strictly according to medical advice to reduce the risk of complications.
How to perform blood glucose monitoring
Fingertip capillary blood glucose monitoring is the most ideal approach.
Patients treated with insulin should self-monitor their blood glucose at least five times a day at the beginning of treatment, and can monitor their blood glucose two to four times a day after reaching the treatment goal. If the patient’s blood glucose control is poor or critical, he/she should monitor 4~7 times a day until his/her condition is stable and blood glucose is under control, and when the patient’s condition is stable or reaches the goal of blood glucose control, he/she can monitor 1-2 days a week. In addition, for the blood glucose test in daily life, it is also determined according to the condition, and the time of blood glucose test will be adjusted accordingly.
1. Pre-meal glucose test: When the blood glucose level is very high, fasting glucose level is the first thing to be concerned. Those who have the risk of hypoglycemia (the elderly and those with better blood sugar control) should also measure pre-meal blood sugar. Fasting blood glucose is the blood glucose value measured without eating for more than 8 hours. The blood glucose when the stomach has been emptied before lunch after breakfast cannot be regarded as fasting blood glucose, but can only be called pre-meal blood glucose. Similarly, the blood glucose before dinner can not be regarded as fasting blood glucose.
2. 2-hour postprandial blood glucose monitoring: It is applicable to those whose fasting blood glucose has been well controlled but still cannot reach the treatment target. The 2-hour postprandial blood glucose refers to the blood glucose measured 2 hours after eating from the time of the first bite of the meal.
3.Bedtime blood glucose monitoring: It is applicable to patients who inject insulin, especially those who inject medium and long-acting insulin.
4.Nocturnal blood glucose monitoring: applicable to those whose insulin treatment is close to the treatment target and whose fasting blood glucose is still high.
5. When symptoms of hypoglycemia appear, blood glucose should be monitored in time.
6.It is appropriate to monitor blood glucose before and after strenuous exercise.
7. Self-monitoring of blood glucose is needed when patients try a new diet plan, when they cannot eat regularly, when they have mood swings and when they feel uncomfortable.