How Often Should You Get a New Blood Glucose Meter?

Many glucose meters can last more than 10 years and still function normally. If you’ve had your glucose meter for a while, you may be wondering when you should consider replacing it. The key to knowing when it’s time for new equipment primarily lies with the accuracy of your machine. Even so, you may still want to consider investing in a new meter in order to take advantage of improved technology.

How to Check Accuracy of Glucose Meter?

In order to test the accuracy of your meter, you’ll need to use the glucose control solution that is designed for your machine. You should test your machine’s accuracy each time you open a new bottle of test strips in order to ensure you continue to get valid results. If your machine has some age on it, it could be a good idea to check periodically between vials as well.

If you are required to test your blood sugar multiple times daily, you may want to consider one of the newer models that will allow you to reapply blood onto the same test strip whenever it does not contain enough. The ability to do this could essentially save you a great deal of money on test strips over the long haul.

If you’ve recently experienced changes in the way your blood sugar fluctuates, your physician may have asked you to keep a log of your readings. Some of the information you may need to record include the time of day and whether the test was conducted before or after a meal. A newer machine that is capable of storing this data could be very helpful when it comes to discussing changes in your diet or medication with your doctor.

Impaired vision is unfortunately a side effect of diabetes. If you’ve suffered from a loss in vision, you may want to consider a glucose meter than reads your results aloud. One of these models can also give you low battery alerts and error messages out loud, so you do not have to worry about reading the controls to find out this information.

How Often Does Medicare Pay for a New Glucose Meter?

In many cases, your insurance company may pay for a new glucose meter every few years. If you qualify for one, you can greatly benefit from the advances in technology that have taken place since you last obtained a meter.  To find the model that’s right for you, contact us today.

Gestational Diabetes Case Study

Gestational diabetes made news headlines in late July 2013 thanks to the release of one particular research group’s results. The study was completed by the well-respected researchers at Northwestern University. Here’s a quick look at what their findings may mean for pregnant women in the future:

The researchers’ findings seem to indicate that there are two, distinct, gene variants that are common among women who develop the disease. The two genes involved are BACE2 and HKDC1. BACE2 is classified as a protease and has made headlines before. Just last year, it was heralded as being beneficial in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. It also plays a role in glucose metabolism as does HKDC1. It is an enzyme as well.

At this point, it is believed that the knowledge of the link may prove helpful to pregnant women and their OB/GYNs in the future. For example, an OB/GYN treating a woman with a family history of gestational diabetes may be able to look for the genetic markers prior to, or shortly after, conception.

Based on the test results, the OB/GYN and the woman involved will then be able to take a proactive approach to preventing the disease as opposed to a reactive one. Examples of a proactive approach would be to closely monitor the woman’s body mass index (BMI) and blood sugar levels throughout her pregnancy. The OB/GYN could also schedule a glucose tolerance test early on.

Women that do develop gestational diabetes will obviously need to take steps to maintain their health and that of their children. Depending on their OB/GYNs’ advice, those steps may include embracing dietary restrictions, a designated exercise routine and routine blood sugar testing. We should also mention that if a routine blood sugar testing regime is suggested, the supplies may be conveniently ordered online.