What are glucose strips?
What are glucose strips?
Diabetes test strips are an easy way to test your blood sugar, aka your glucose levels. This is important for people with diabetes. The strips work with glucose meters to “read” your blood sugar levels. Knowing your blood sugar levels helps you manage your disease.
How does glucose test strip work?
Test strips work by placing blood on the strip. The blood reacts with an enzyme on the strip called glucose oxidase to produce gluconic acid using glucose in the blood. At the other end of the strip, which is connected to the glucometer, the meter sends a current to the strip.
What is the purpose of glucose strips?
By self-monitoring your blood glucose levels, you can: determine if you have a high or low blood glucose level at a given time ; change your eating and physical activity behaviours that may have worsened your health; learn how your lifestyle and medication affect your blood glucose levels.
How do you read a glucose strip?
How do I check?
- After washing your hands, insert a test strip into your meter.
- Use your lancing device on the side of your fingertip to get a drop of blood.
- Touch and hold the edge of the test strip to the drop of blood and wait for the result.
- Your blood glucose level will appear on the meter’s display.
Are all blood glucose test strips the same?
Manufacturers market strips made for their monitors, and strips made for other devices simply will not work. Even different meters from the same manufacturer often require a different set of strips. You may be able to find generic strips that will work in your meter.
Why are people buying diabetic test strips?
“Test strips are absolutely necessary for anyone who uses insulin to be able to safely adjust the dose of insulin to a person’s blood glucose levels,” Petersen said in an email. “They are also helpful for people with diabetes who don’t use insulin to know how well they’re managing their diabetes.”
How accurate are test strips for diabetes?
The DTS gold standard is that a meter and its test strips should yield BG readings within 15 percent or 15 mg/dL of the laboratory values at least 95 percent of the time. In several studies, only six brands passed that test for accuracy: Contour Next from Bayer — 100 percent.
Why do people buy diabetic test strips?
People with diabetes (PWDs) are receiving test strips for free or highly discounted using Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance and then selling them to companies that will resell them to uninsured or underinsured people at a price that is still lower than retail price.
Are diabetic test strips covered by insurance?
Many insurers will also cover diabetes test strips; however, they can still be expensive due to deductibles and copays. Be sure to check which brands your insurer covers, as some only allow coverage for “preferred” brands, and also make sure these brands will work with your blood glucose meter.
Why are glucose test strips so expensive?
Test strips for diabetes are so expensive because a lot of investment is done in the design, creation, and maintenance of the production machinery. The enzymes and chemicals which are used in the process of making these strips are quite expensive.
What are the cheapest glucose test strips?
Care Touch Blood Glucose Meter Kit. If you are a diabetic who is looking for a cheap glucose meter,then you can go for Care Touch Blood Glucose Meter.
What are the best blood glucose test strips?
Bayer Contour is well known as the #1 rated test strip in the world and tops the charts in fast results and accuracy. Keeping track of your blood glucose levels is one very important way to monitor your health and prevent any complications from diabetes from occurring.
What are the side effects of glucose test strips?
Abdominal or stomach pain
