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 Diabetes Management
Diabetes management is controlling blood glucose levels and any other problems or ‘risk factors’, which may pose a threat to your long-term health. This means looking after yourself, and having regular check-ups.
The nature of diabetes is that it requires your attention each and every day. Although many of the self-care skills that you use in managing your diabetes will become second nature to you, your diabetes will always be there and always need to be considered.
By learning as much as you can about diabetes and its management, and by tailoring your treatment plan to your own lifestyle, with the help of your diabetes team you should be able to tackle almost anything.
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Diabetes management involves
the following:
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Treatment – prescribed by your doctor
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Blood glucose monitoring – performed by you
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Continual adjustment of treatment and/or daily activities
in order to maintain control
of blood glucose levels
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Blood Glucose Monitoring
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Many people
can’t see the point of testing. They often
say that they know when their blood glucose levels
are too high. Unfortunately this is often not true.
Unless your blood glucose level is very high, the
way you feel is not always a good or accurate guide
to what is happening.
Home blood glucose testing gives an accurate picture of your blood glucose level at the time of the test. This involves pricking the side of your finger with a finger-pricking device to get a small blood sample and putting a drop of blood on a testing strip attached to the blood glucose meter. The meter will read and display the result automatically. Keeping a diary of your results will help you and your doctor work out whether your treatment needs to be adjusted.
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Home Blood Sugar Monitoring provides useful information for you and your doctor to:
Assess
'trends' in your day to day glucose levels
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Evaluate factors causing high or low blood sugars
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Assess the impact of diet, exercise, work and stress
on your blood sugar
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Take decisions when you are sick
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Take decisions on changes in treatment
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Home
Blood Glucose Monitoring
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Who should monitor
their sugar levels?
There is no reason why anyone with diabetes should not measure their blood sugars, however certain people are strongly advised to do so
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Type
1 diabetes
Poorly controlled diabetes
'Brittle'
diabetes - widely fluctuating levels
Recurrent hypoglycaemia
Shift workers, athletes, drivers,
During intercurrent illness
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How
often should I be monitoring my levels?
Discuss this with your doctor. As a general rule test at different times of the day, rather than at a single fixed time each day. It is useful to have a general idea of your blood glucose before breakfast, lunch and dinner and at bedtime. Blood glucose concentrations two hours after meals also provide useful information. Remember that blood glucose levels go up and down all the time. Eating will make your sugar go up; exercise, insulin and oral hypoglycaemic tablets will make your sugar go down.
It would be nice to have information about your glucose concentrations 4-6 times a day but this is not very practical and we would not usually ask you to do this unless you happen to be pregnant! If your control is good, a single reading each day is adequate for most people providing you sample at different times from day to day.
Extra blood tests are useful during:
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illness or stress |
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Changes in insulin regime |
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Treatment with steroids |
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Pregnancy |
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When control is 'unstable' e.g. recurrent hypoglycaemia |
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When your level of activity changes dramatically eg. vigorous exercise, driving long distances |
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Extra night-time tests are sometimes used to help identify the cause of nocturnal hypos. |
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Is this painful!
Fingers being sensitive, sore fingers are an occupational hazard of checking your blood sugars frequently. Reduce the pain factor by avoiding overly frequent sampling and by using the side of your fingers rather than the pulps. Also avoid using alcohol to wipe your fingers before a test. Studies have shown it does nothing to prevent infection.
It also helps to use different fingers say a particular finger assigned for each day of the week! This allows the site to heal before you inflict another 'stab'.
Some modern meters like microdot, use very tiny amounts of blood, thereby reducing the depth of finger stab which is necessary. This can also influence the pain factor.
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How do
I set about doing a test?
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Wash your hands
with warm water and dry them thoroughly. This
will improve the blood supply to your fingers.
Avoid using alcohol as it stings. |
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Select a different finger or
different part of your finger for each test
you do. Repeated tests in the same place will
make your fingers very sore and may give rise
to callus |
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Avoid using your finger tips.
Fingertips are very sensitive and have a higher
density of pain receptors. Use the sides of
your fingers as denoted in the picture. |
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Hold the finger pricking device
against the side of your finger. Remember
the higher the setting the puncture will be
more deep. |
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Press the release button and
gently squeeze your finger to obtain a drop
of blood |
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Apply the drop of blood as
instructed in your meter manual and proceed
with the test |
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How do I record my test results?
Modern blood glucose meters like microdot have memory functions for storing reading. You can also keep a paper-based record or diary. Write down any comments on changes in food, activity, sickness or stress. This information will help your doctor’s decision making
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How do I choose a blood glucose meter?
The following features may be
worth considering in selecting a glucose meter
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How easy is it to use? |
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Size |
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Speed |
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Cost of Strip |
If you are constantly on the move, a smaller meter
may be more important to you. People with visual
impairments may require a large display. If you
like keeping paper records, memory functions may
be less important. Most meters available on the
market today are reasonably accurate within certain
limitations.
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Can I download data to a PC
Some meters like microdot allow you to transfer the readings from your meter, using special software and a connecting cable, on to your Personal Computer. The data is then analyzed by the Computer and made available in the form of graphs and charts
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