People with diabetes routinely test their blood sugar level to monitor how well their condition is being controlled. Checking on the amount of sugar in the blood several times a day helps give a better idea of how much insulin is needed. Keeping blood sugar levels under control can help to prevent or even reverse some long-term complications of diabetes.

In the past, urine tests were commonly used for monitoring diabetes. But this is not the best way to measure glucose levels. If there is glucose in the urine, you don’t know when it spilled over. A urine test might be negative when blood glucose levels are actually dangerously high. Urine tests don’t tell you how high the blood sugar was, either, and they can’t tell you when blood sugar levels are too low.

Fortunately, technology has provided an affordable way to measure blood sugar levels by using devices called blood glucose monitors. You can find out exactly what your blood sugar level is in just a few moments. This makes it possible to adjust food and insulin more appropriately than ever before. Using a monitor regularly can also give a timely warning when an insulin reaction is developing, because the blood test shows when there is too little glucose present.

To test blood sugar, you just prick your finger or earlobe and place a drop of blood onto a chemically sensitive strip. In some systems the strip is compared to a color-coded chart, or it is simply placed into a small portable machine that provides a digital readout of blood sugar levels.

Wearing Medical Identification

Wearing a medical identification bracelet or necklace and/or carrying an identification card can also help in case of an emergency. Information on your illness and what to do in case of insulin reaction or ketoacidosis, as well as your name and the name and number of someone to contact, may mean the difference between life and death if you are found unconscious.

A nonprofit organization, Medic-Alert Foundation, can provide you with an identification card or tag, and maintains a central file containing vital information on every case registered with it. This information can be obtained twenty-four hours a day by a collect telephone call.

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