Recently, I received a question from a sugar lover. It’s strange. I used two blood glucose meters to measure the same drop of blood. One blood glucose meter showed 5.0 and the other 4.4. The former was normal, while the latter was close to the minimum threshold for fasting blood sugar control in the Type 2 Diabetes Prevention and Treatment Guidelines. Which one should I believe?
This question is very direct, but to clarify this issue, I would like to break it down from the following aspects, and listen to the explanation slowly: First of all, it is normal to have a gap between blood glucose meters. People with diabetes often It's normal to compare. This reminds me of a movie I watched some time ago, "Arrowman Liu Baiyuan". It talks about many disputes and disputes in the Jianghu, and everyone is prone to conflicts. Later, Liu Baiyuan came out. He was responsible for mediating. If you don't accept it, you can go to the police. He fought, but many people in the world couldn't beat him, so he surrendered.
So, does the blood glucose meter also have a Liu Bai Yuan? Yes, the one that serves as the benchmark is the hospital's large biochemical analyzer. Accordingly, China has specially issued a national standard of the People's Republic of China for comparison of blood glucose meters and biochemistry. The requirements are as follows: Take the results at the beginning of this article. If the blood glucose value measured by biochemistry is 5.0mmol/L, then use blood glucose The result measured by the instrument should not exceed ±1 (5*±20%), which means it is within the qualified range.
However, after this explanation, many people do not buy it. The reason is very simple: if the test is 6, it is okay, it is within the normal range after all, but what should I do if the test is 4? Should I add food? This involves the second question, which is how we view blood glucose monitoring results. When strict and attentive doctors instruct patients with diabetes to strengthen blood sugar monitoring, they usually add: Remember to keep a monitoring diary, and do not adjust your medication based on the results of a certain blood sugar monitoring. Some people who know how to pick up the title will also say, "Monitoring blood sugar is of no use..." and the latter sentence, "Monitoring blood sugar is only useful if you know what to do." So, what are the uses of the monitoring results? Many people can tell a few things, but they cannot tell the most critical points:
1. The value of blood glucose monitoring reflects a trend. For example, going back to the case at the beginning, one is 5.0 and the other is 4.4. Don’t worry about which value is accurate at this time, because this represents a low value. If you don’t eat at this time, your blood sugar may continue to move towards 3.9 and eventually become low. Blood sugar, so you can add meals appropriately at this time. For example, eat some fruit to satisfy your craving, or drink a glass of milk. One purpose of blood glucose monitoring is to prevent hyperglycemia, and the other is to prevent hypoglycemia. The latter is more important. There is no greater benefit than intercepting hypoglycemia before it occurs;
2. Monitoring blood sugar can help us understand the rules of diet, exercise and medication. For example, if a new drug is used and hypoglycemia occurs, it means that the dose is too large; if the drug remains unchanged and blood sugar suddenly becomes high, then we have to look for rules in diet and exercise. Did we eat too much or exercise too much today? not enough. Last time I met an aunt who said that her blood sugar had suddenly become high recently, which was inexplicable. She asked about diet, exercise and other aspects, but nothing had changed. I was puzzled, so I said lightly: "Hot weather will lead to poor sleep. It may also affect blood sugar levels." She slapped her thigh and said she was right. She had indeed not been sleeping well recently. Therefore, monitoring blood sugar allows us to summarize our own life patterns and find a life that is more in line with our own blood sugar patterns.
3. Show the monitoring diary to the doctor, especially the blood sugar level one week before seeing a doctor. The doctor will glance at it and ask some questions, and he will probably know whether to adjust the medicine, what kind of advice to give you, etc. When I interviewed Professor Guo Xiaohui, director of the Department of Endocrinology at Peking University Hospital and leader of the education group of the Diabetes Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, she said: "Don't see a doctor in vain. If you see a doctor one week before you see a doctor, monitor your blood sugar. It's worth taking it to the doctor, who can quickly come up with practical and effective solutions; if you don't measure your blood sugar, the doctor won't know what your blood sugar is and how to adjust it, which is a waste of time." The above questions have been clarified, then A further problem arises: the same drop of blood tested 5.0 and 4.4, which is considered good. If one test is 19 and the other is 7, is my blood sugar high or low? Should I increase or decrease my medication? First of all, we still need to be clear about one thing: if you don’t know your own blood sugar, don’t add or subtract medicines at will, let alone follow others’ words in taking medicines. The reason why people with type 1 diabetes add or subtract insulin by themselves is because they know their blood sugar, diet and insulin well. Secondly, if the results are 19 and 7, after excluding internal factors such as improper operation, insufficient blood volume, local extrusion, changing the test paper batch number, the calibration code has not been changed, or the test paper is improperly stored, etc., we have to consider the blood glucose meter or other factors. If there is a problem with a batch of test strips, you should contact the blood glucose meter manufacturer for after-sales service.
Finally, I have to talk about a very important topic that has never been answered, that is: Since there are so many problems with blood glucose monitoring, can you recommend me the most reliable blood glucose meter? After I use it to monitor, I don’t have to think about all the above problems. . Sorry, according to national regulations, all blood glucose meters currently on the market meet the requirements. I haven’t used them all, so I can’t recommend the most reliable blood glucose meter, but I think there are two points that should be considered:
First, the brand influence is large enough. There are many brands of blood glucose meters on the market, but most of them are OEM. I am not attacking these new products, but many products have a life cycle. The older the brand, the more resistant it is. The risk capacity is greater. It won't happen that you are using it and suddenly you can't see this product on the market. Fortunately, the current cost of replacing a blood glucose meter is very low. If one day you cannot buy test strips with your own blood glucose meter, you will probably throw it away and you can replace it with another blood glucose meter. It's just that I don't recommend it.
Second, the after-sales service is good. This point is actually in line with the first point. Generally, if the brand is big enough, the after-sales service will be better. Once there is a problem with the blood glucose meter, they may help you solve it with just one phone call, or even replace it with a new one. As for price, of course the cheaper the better. You can go to Tmall and JD.com to check out the manufacturer’s official flagship store. There are often some activities, and the price at this time is often cheaper than what you can buy in a drug store. Alas, just such a monitoring result makes everyone so entangled, which shows that the life of people with diabetes is not that easy.
