Measuring blood glucose levels is an essential part of diabetes management. It will tell you the effectiveness of your diet and medicines. It will also guide you to readjust your insulin dose.
Glucometer: It is an easy-to-use tool to check capillary blood glucose levels at any time. Use a good quality meter and make sure the test strips match the machine code.
Glucose logbook: Every time you check your blood glucose, write it down on a logbook or chart with the date and time. It will be easy for your doctor to adjust the insulin dose after seeing this record.
A1c: It is the average blood glucose over three months. This is useful for doctors to monitor your glucose control with it. But it is of no help in the day-to-day assessment.
Urine glucose: It is easy to check the presence of glucose in the urine by using a dipstick. When blood glucose exceeds 180mg/dl, it is excreted in the urine. It gives a rough estimate, but it is not very accurate and not recommended by doctors these days.
Ketones: When blood sugar is too high, ketones can be detected in blood and urine. It can lead to an emergency known as ketoacidosis.
Hyperglycemia When you feel blood sugar is too high, confirm it by testing and treat it accordingly.
Hypoglycemia Detect symptoms of hypoglycemia early and treat them by giving extra carbohydrate snacks.
Tight control means keeping blood glucose within narrow limits at all times. It can lead to frequent attacks of hypoglycemia. Your doctor will decide whether you need tight control.
