Home Blood Glucose Monitoring

The ability to monitor blood glucose levels at home is vital for those with Type 1 diabetes and may well be essential for people with Type 2 syndrome as well, especially if they are being treated with sulphonylureas or insulin. One of the main advantages of HBGM is that it enables people to be in better control of their diabetes, when combined with adjustment of insulin doses. HBGM enables hypoglycaemia to be detected. This is very reassuring for many people, especially for those at risk of more severe 'hypos', that is, those whose diabetes is being tightly controlled.

How to Carry Out an HBGM Test

General guidance for performing HBGM is listed below, although the instructions given byyour own diabetes clinic should be followed.

• Wash hands with warm water and soap and dry thoroughly.

• Select lancet and/or finger-pricking device and extract a test strip from its container.

• Prick the side of a finger tip (avoiding the thumb and index finger) and massage gently to obtain a good drop of blood.

• Place the strip over the drop of blood and move it sideways to cover it completely with blood. Make sure that you accurately follow the instructions for using the strip with a meter.

• Cover the puncture with a small piece of clean gauze or cotton wool hold in place for a few minutes.

• 'Read' the blood glucose using the chart or meter and note the result in the diary provided by your clinic.

• Take some glucose if the reading is at or below 4 mmol/1, but follow specific guidance on this given by your clinical care team.

• Whatever the result, do not miss out your next dose of insulin or sulphonylureas.

• Potential difficulties in hbgm procedure
• Home urine test