Can I Know if I Have Diabetes Using a Glucose Monitor?
Thursday, May 14th, 2009 at
5:31 pm
Ethan asked:
Hi. I want to know if it’s possible to know if I have diabetes using a glucose monitor. If it’s possible, how should I use it (before lunch, after dinner, etc.) and how i should I interpret the results?
Hi. I want to know if it’s possible to know if I have diabetes using a glucose monitor. If it’s possible, how should I use it (before lunch, after dinner, etc.) and how i should I interpret the results?
Tagged with: Diabetes • Glucose Monitor • Lunch
Filed under: Diabetes
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Only partially. If your level is over 120 something funny may be going on. But glucose levels vary during the day, so the definitive diagnosis is a glucose tolerance test. This involes you drinking a bunch of nast sweet syrup and your glucose and insulin are monitored over a period of time (two hrs, is the most important timepoint). There is also a blood test that looks at cumulative glucose levels over time.
Contrary to what others may say, the answer is no.
Because of their inaccuracy ranges of +/- 10-20 % you won’t get accurate readings from a home testing meter.
It should be used as a guideline to see which foods are causing your blood sugars to elevate and remain elevated. It should also be used first thing in the morning to get a grasp of your fasting blood sugars.
And if your numbers are staying higher than normal that would be an indication that you would need a Fasting Blood Sugar or an OGTT (Oral Glucose Tolerance Test).
Home tests are only random snapshots of what your glucose levels are at the time you test but they are important for diagnosed diabetics to use to determine how well your controlling your blood sugars.
But to be used as a tool to diagnose diabetes, the answer is a resounding NO.
Diagnosing diabetes properly is not a do-it-yourself project. If you have symptoms of diabetes, and have risk factors of diabetes, you need to make an appointment with your doctor.
Since you have the meter, you can test your blood sugar two hours after meals, your number should be below 120. But as the others said before me, this is not the most accurate or appropriate way to diagnose diabetes.
The only sure fire way to know for sure is to have testing done by the doctor. He will do different tests that will give accurate results..