Does a Diabetic need a Glucose Meter?
When someone has diabetes, they essentially are having a problem where their body is unable to produce enough insulin and they need to monitor and control their sugars themselves. Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes are the two different types of diabetes that will be found in people. Diabetics with Type 1 Diabetes control their sugars entirely by giving injections of Insulin. Type 2 Diabetics are able to control their blood sugars by pills and excercise alone, although they do sometimes need to use Insulin as well when the sugar gets out of control. To know which type of diabetes you have, you will need to get a proper diagnosis by a doctor or physician.
So now we know that a diabetic needs to control their sugar levels. A diabetic monitors their blood sugars with a glucose meter that tells them how high or low their sugar might be. For those diabetics that cannot afford to purchase a glucose meter outright, their work coverage mght pay for it and you basically get a free glucometer. The way a glucose meter works is that the person testing their sugar levels pricks their finger with a lancet device. This basically draws a small drop of blood from the person fingers so the levels can be measured. The drop of blood would be put onto a blood strip that has been put into their glucose meter. Normally in about five seconds, or even up to a minute depending on the meter, you will get a reading telling you what your sugar levels are at.
A diabetic definately needs a glucose meter to test their sugars regularly. Without it they may give incorrect dosage of their insulin causing low sugar levels which can be dangerous as a seizure may occur. With the price on meters nowadays it has definately got more affordable. Some companies when you buy a set amount of test strips will give you a free glucometer to be used with your purchased strips. Since many manufacturers make most of the money from the strips purchase, you get that added incentive of a free monitor to be used with their strips. Some more information for finding a free glucometer can be found at http://www.freeglucometer.info/.
Tags: Diabetes, glucometer, glucose meter