One of the most crucial things you can do to control your diabetes is to check your blood glucose levels routinely. While your healthcare practitioner uses numerous lab tests to monitor your blood glucose levels, more frequent readings rely on self-monitoring. You can stay on track and meet your long-term objectives by being aware of the advantages of monitoring blood glucose with a portable monitor. But you should have an Abha card if you want to avail yourself of the benefits of an automated blood sugar monitoring system.
Sugar in the blood is called glucose. Insulin is the key that unlocks the door for glucose to enter the cells for energy and storage.
What Advantages Do Blood Glucose Monitoring Devices Offer?
Regularly checking your blood sugar levels has a number of advantages, including the following:
- Gives you and your healthcare practitioner the information you need to assess how well your treatment plan works. It also sheds light on how your diet, activity, stress, and sickness might affect your blood glucose levels.
- Assists you in avoiding severe consequences of undiagnosed low or high blood sugar, such as heart disease, eyesight loss, renal disease, and nerve damage.
- Lessens the stress that comes with not knowing how effectively you’re controlling your diabetes between visits to your doctor
- motivates people to adopt healthy practices more
- Aids in determining whether you should not drive or use heavy equipment if your blood glucose is too high or too low.
Strategies For Surmounting Obstacles To Daily Blood Glucose Monitoring
Persons with type 1 diabetes frequently need to check their blood sugar levels between 4 and 10 times per day, whereas people with type 2 diabetes may be told to do so up to a few times per day. The recommended monitoring plan can be difficult for some people to follow because of the frequency of the tests. Listed below are a few of the most frequent excuses for infrequent testing:
- Unwillingness to test because of aching fingertips
- Lack of drive
- Finding testing time to be a challenge
- Issues with dexterity
- Inadequate privacy
Maintaining your diabetes control strategy requires developing ways to get beyond these obstacles.
Use alternate fingers to check your blood sugar throughout the day to prevent uncomfortable fingertips, and avoid reusing lancets because dull ones can hurt more. Use the sides of your fingertips rather than nicking your tender finger pads. Do not squeeze your fingertip to increase blood flow.
One method to get around the challenges of daily testing is continuous glucose monitoring (CGM); however, it has certain downsides. For simple, quick, and discreet blood sugar tests, some people with diabetes use an all-in-one blood glucose monitor.
Low Blood Sugar Symptoms
Low blood sugar can occur when an individual produces too much insulin or takes too much medicine. Level 1 hypoglycemia is defined as blood sugar levels between 54 and 69 mg/dL. Low blood sugar symptoms frequently include:
- Dizziness
- rapid or irregular pulse
- Hunger
- Sweating
- Anxiety
- Irritability
- Shakiness
While some people don’t experience symptoms until levels are below 70mg/dL, others do. Low blood sugar, or level 2 hypoglycemia, is defined as less than 54 mg/dL. Because the brain may not be receiving enough glucose at this time to function, this might result in more severe symptoms like confusion, unusual behaviour, and blurred vision. When blood sugar levels drop too low, a person may trip, experience seizures, or lose consciousness.
Monitoring Of Continuous Glucose
A CGM is a gadget that uses a sensor placed under the skin to monitor glucose levels continually. The sensor is attached to a transmitter that transmits real-time information to a monitor and is held in place by an adhesive patch. Fingerprints are often only needed for CGM calibration. They give you constant feedback without interfering with your everyday routine, forcing you to have the hand-eye coordination or drive to take numerous hand-held measures or making you readily visible to people around you.
Although CGMs are a fantastic solution for some, they have a few disadvantages:
- Instead of measuring blood, CGMs monitor interstitial fluid, which surrounds cells. These results are only sometimes accurate, particularly if your blood sugar level fluctuates significantly.
- Skin irritation may result from adhesive patches.
- Due to daily activity, the glue and sensor may need to be updated frequently.
- Some patients find it burdensome to wear CGMs constantly.
You can more effectively control your diabetes by being aware of the advantages of monitoring your blood glucose levels and selecting the appropriate monitoring equipment. Regular monitoring not only provides you with more information about your health, but it also provides your healthcare practitioner with an Abha health card update with crucial details about your requirements and course of treatment. In addition, you can take significant actions to keep your blood sugar levels within your goal range and obtain the greatest results if you have a clear picture of your daily glucose levels and trends over time.