Constant blood glucose monitoring is crucial for managing type 1 and 2 diabetes. It makes it easy for you to determine what makes the sugars go up or down, especially after eating different foods, taking medication, or being over physically active.
Regular blood sugar monitoring makes it easy for you to prevent diabetes complications such as heart attack, kidney failure, and any other complications that arise when the blood sugars are too high or too low. Here are some of the best ways to monitor their glucose, to ensure they stay fit.
How to Monitor Blood Sugar
There are different ways in which diabetic patients can be able to monitor their glucose. Understanding your diabetes time in range is essential to diabetes management, and diabetes patients should talk to their health care providers, who will guide them on how to achieve their target time in range.
However, different devices can be used to monitor glucose, making it easy for the patient to achieve their target. For example, the blood glucose meter (glucometer) and the continuous glucose monitor (CGM) are the two different devices one can use to monitor glucose levels.
Your health care provider will help you choose the best meter depending on your preference and other factors such as accuracy, cost, and the ability to use it easily. Some of the insurance covers tend to cover the cost of some of the meters, allowing the patients to access them easily.
- Blood Glucose Meter (Glucometer)
The glucometer is a device that checks blood sugar levels using only a single drop of blood. With the device, one gets their results within seconds, helping you to know if the sugars are high or low.
According to Tandem Diabetes, the device can store the results over time, which helps you to see the pattern of your sugars, and it is easy for you to share the pattern with your health care providers. For example, the device requires you to prick your finger and get a drop of blood on the testing strip, helping the device to measure the blood glucose level.
- Continuous glucose monitor (CGM)
Continuous glucose monitoring is a way of monitoring the blood sugar levels every 5 to 15 minutes, every 24 hours. The CGM tends to use a glucose sensor to measure the levels of glucose in the fluids that are under the skins. The sensor is usually attached to the transmitter that is placed on the skin.
The device can transmit results to another recording device, making it easy to save the pattern, which you can share with your health practitioner. The device can also transmit the recording of the blood levels to the insulin pump, directing it to release insulin in case the levels need some topping up.
The continuous glucose monitoring device is appropriate for people with type 2 diabetes who regularly need daily insulin injections, especially when the blood sugars are too low.
Monitor your Blood Sugar Level Today
Anyone who has diabetes should be able to monitor their blood sugars regularly. There are different ways to monitor glucose, the blood glucose meter and the continuous glucose monitor. These gadgets give you instant results and make it easy to detect what might be causing the blood sugars to be too low or too high.