What's My Blood Glucose Level?

So what's the big deal about coding meters? It's just something to remember. I'd rather they set their R&D teams onto something Really Important -- like a closed loop system between pump and meter so we didn't have to do the necessary calculations.  Now, THAT'S something I'd like to see.

The problem with all the meters on the market today is that the average consumer is more concerned with features and style than with accuracy and precision.

As long as consumers demand cute meters in a variety of colors, meters that use microscopic amounts of blood and give results within seconds, we're never going to get accurate and precise meters.

People who have a family history of diabetes as well as diabetes are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Also referred to as non-insulin dependent diabetes, type 2 diabetes is a condition wherein the body, over time, becomes resistant to insulin.
http://diets-diabetes.blogspot.com

I worked in a hospital for 28 years as a registered lab tech. A difference of nearly 20 is a little much but not that bad. 77 is a normal sugar as is 97. If the meter holds to within 20 on higher sugars then would that make a big difference?? Would it make a big difference in calculating dosages of insulin??

What were the other readings?? If most of the readings were within 1-3 of each other & then you had one that was way outside then the reading that is way off should be disgarded & the others averaged.

We used to do sugar testings in the lab on a tube of pretested blood. Sometimes it would be to see if a person was using good technique. 20 or 25 sugars would be performed by the person. The the results would be averaged and see if they were falling with a preset average. Sometimes it was to check the performance of the machine when we were changing to a new sugar machine for the whole labs use.

I think though using 10 finger sticks in a 20 minute period you would expect some differences. With a pretested tube of blood or test solution the results would be much more stable.And I think probably the main thing the machine is should be able to do is produce results should fall within a pre-determined average using a test solution. That way the machine is determined to be accurate & reproduceable within a certain range. I would think a machine that would produce the exact same readings would be so precise that it would be very very expensive to produce.

Hope this makes sense.

Jane  

I am an Abbott Diabetes Care employee, and I saw your story questioning the accuracy of your meter.  I am not qualified to comment on that accuracy myself, but any time you have questions regarding your Freestyle meters, please call our customer support center at 1-888-522-5226.  They can help you troubleshoot your problems and if necessary they can send a replacement meter to you.