Is a glucometer a fashionable toy or a necessary thing?

One Sting of a Steel Stinger – Blood Test Made for Me! Although it is sucked from a finger, But it is completely convincing. 

I remember this rhyme from childhood. It was written on the door of the laboratory assistant’s office in the clinic, where I went to take a blood test for sugar. In those days, glucometers were not yet sold in our country, and sugar had to be checked once a month, and for this we had to go quite far.

Nowadays, everything has changed. People with diabetes, especially insulin-dependent, have the opportunity to control blood sugar levels without leaving home and as often as they want. 

I think that every prudent diabetic has a portable glucometer these days. However, when I saw an advertisement for glucometers on TV, I was surprised: could this product really interest a completely healthy person? But she soon realized that perhaps this advertisement was not without meaning.

After forty years, the risk of diabetes is known to increase dramatically. Additional risk factors are overweight, smoking and the presence of various chronic diseases. And if you earn this diabetes, then it will not seem enough. The complications of this disease are so serious that you will not wish the enemy. There is blindness, and total, and possible gangrene, which can lead to amputation of the limbs, as well as impaired renal function and other vital organs.

But all these complications can be avoided if you pay attention to the increase in blood sugar in time and take all measures to compensate for the disease.  

We all constantly hear doctors’ recommendations every few months to take a blood test for sugar. However, few of us find the time for this, and frankly, too lazy to drag ourselves to the clinic, take a referral from a doctor, and then defend the turn to the laboratory assistant. Of course, now there are a lot of paid laboratories where they will do the analysis quickly and without any queues. But it’s much more convenient to do the analysis on your own, and in a matter of seconds.

Having thought a little, we will come to the conclusion that the glucometer is a very necessary thing. Which one to choose?  

Modern models of glucometers, in principle, are little different from each other. They are a small machine with several buttons and a small screen, as well as a slot for inserting a disposable strip. It should be borne in mind that the main expenses you will have are associated with the acquisition of these same stripes. Their price is quite high compared to the price of the meter itself. It should be borne in mind that for glucometers of some companies test strips can not be found on the Russian market. Clarify this question in advance so as not to get into trouble.  

Active people should pay attention to the size and design of the meter. Many models are specially created for daily use and carrying. For advanced PC users , there are models that can be connected to a computer and analyze their performance for a certain period of time. However, for the elderly, such sophisticated models will not be very convenient, they will simply get confused in them. For people with impaired vision, there are glucometers with speech output. 

So, you can take care of your health in advance and purchase this inexpensive, but much-needed thing.