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Controlling Diabetes: When Pills Aren't Enough
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Checking Blood Sugar and
Avoiding Diabetes Complications
Checking your blood sugar throughout the day is a
must when you have diabetes. It makes a big
difference to your health by helping you make
decisions about what to eat, or if you need to adjust your medication, and to avoid
diabetes complications such as:
Heart disease
Stroke
High blood pressure
High cholesterol
Blindness
Kidney disease
Diabetes-related skin problems
Ways to Check Your Blood Sugar
Here are some ways you can check your blood sugar levels and lower the risk of serious
complications:
Self-Checking: You give yourself a blood glucose test several times a day. To do it, you
put a drop of blood, usually from your finger, onto a special test strip. The strip goes into a
handheld device that measures your blood glucose level.
Write down the test results, so you can share it with your doctor. Based on your results,
you and your doctor may make adjustments to your diet, exercise, or medication.
A1c Test: The A1c test is a blood test you'll get in your doctor's office at least twice a
year, or as often as your doctor recommends.
The results show your average blood glucose control for the past 2 to 3 months. You and
your doctor need this test to see how well your diabetes treatment plan is working, so you
can make any adjustments you need.
Think of it this way: Self-checking is like a daily snapshot of your blood sugar control. The
A1c test gives you the big picture.
Continuous Glucose Monitoring System: When you get a continuous glucose
monitoring system, your doctor places a tiny sensor under your skin to check blood
sugar levels in your body every 5 minutes. A transmitter sends the information from the
sensor to a monitor that you wear like a pager for a few days. Some insulin pumps
include continuous glucose monitoring systems.
You'll still need to check your blood sugar throughout the day. Continuous glucose
monitoring doesn't replace that. It gives your doctor more information about trends that
self-checking may not show.
WebMD Medical Reference
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Reviewed by Michael Dansinger, MD on September 06, 2014
2014 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.
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