Glucometers
Glucometers – Form And Function
Glucometers Matter
If you’ve read our page called Diabetes Testing, you will have found some words about using Glucometers or glucose meters or glucose monitors. If you visit your local pharmacy or store run by a diabetes research or support organization, you will find a range of glucometers spread over several price points. If you have health insurance, your insurer may have preferred brands and models. Glucometers are not expensive but health insurance will assist in most cases.
The writer’s advice, in this as in other things, is to buy the best you can afford. His experience is that any unit on the market is likely to be accurate enough for its intended purpose, which is to inform diabetics about their blood sugar levels. Those that he has owned have been capable of accurate calibration by means of small kit purchased separately which contained a benchmark test fluid against which the machine could be set to read accurately. His personal preference has been for Roche Diagnostics’ products, marketed under the brand Accu-Chek and currently he uses an Accu-Chek Aviva model. However, this personal preference is not to be taken as a recommendation against the glucose metering products of any other manufacturer.
A worthwhile accessory is some means of transferring data to a PC. The data may be transferred via infra-red link as in the case of the Accu-Chek system. It may be by means of a connection cord (USB) for use with a computer so that stored readings may be downloaded for analysis. Software may be supplied which can present a number of parameters for consideration by the patient, doctor, pharmacist, nutritionist and diabetes educator. It may be worthwhile to ascertain the cost of any cable and software as well as replaceable items such as ‘sharps’, test strips and calibration and test kits in making a purchase decision.
While your doctor can order regular blood tests at, e.g., 3 or 6 monthly intervals, regular daily testing is the best source of data about a patient’s blood sugar levels.
Readers will have noted the discussion of cost and accuracy. The third factor to be taken into account is ease-of-use. The writer’s glucometers have been small and have gotten smaller over the last 10 years.
The writer cannot pretend to have tested all available glucometers, but they follow a common theme. The diabetic patient must prick a finger, thumb or other area of the body to draw a small blood sample. This sample must be presented to the machine for analysis by some means, typically, a small capillary tube in, or an absorbent area on, a test strip which is read by the meter.
Ease-of-use embraces a number of factors such as the relative painfulness or painlessness of the device supplied to ‘draw blood’; the size of the blood sample required; the processing speed; the ease of ejecting and inserting the ‘sharp’ and the test strip; the general ease of operation; and the overall time to ready the machine, use it, and put it away. Over the years the writer notes that the Accu-Chek Softclix lancet device has shrunk in size and become near-painless in operation being user-adjustable as to how deeply the sharp penetrates the skin.
It must be noted that other manufacturers such as Bayer have products which are as compact and well designed as those offered by Roche. The writer notes in particular the Bayer Ascensia Contour and Breeze 2 meters, and Bayer’s test strip disc system, which may appeal to intending meter buyers. Bayer too offer a customisable lancet device and software analysis.
Johnson and Johnson are in the market place too, with their Lifescan products, the OneTouch Ultra meter range, OneTouch UltraSoft lancet devices and associated diabetes management software. As you would expect OneTouch products appear well-designed and are widely available.
There are other manufacturers offering glucometers. You should be able to get an idea of what’s available from the web. Try American Diabetes Services’ site, for example. Or use your favorite search engine to find ‘glucometers available in USA’.
Appearance ought not to be a factor but the intending purchaser will find some glucometers look positively clumsy. Remember form and function. Handle the meters. Do they sit well in the hand? Can you easily insert a test strip? Are any key pads large enough? Is it easy to recall past results? Does the meter come with a carry case? Does the case fit your pocket, purse or pocket book?
The writer has found his Accu-Chek glucometers to have been very reliable, having only one failure in 10 years which the manufacturer replaced under warranty, which leads to the final factor an intending purchaser should consider.
Who is the maker? What is their reputation? Where is the unit made? How good is the after-sales support and service? (Some companies may be much better than others). It would be advisable to go online, visit a forum or two and check out the makers’ websites.
Research will pay dividends.
© healthwise4all.com 2009, 2010. All rights reserved.
0 Responses to “Glucometers”