Can You Test For Diabetes At Home

The Surprising Percentage Of People Who May Test Their Glucose Unnecessarily

Dr. Platt decided to look at the frequency of home testing after noticing that some patients who didnt need to test kept precise notes on their daily blood sugar measurements over long periods of time. The researchers, including senior author A. Mark Fendrick, MD, a professor in general medicine at the University of Michigan, reviewed national insurance data from 370,740 people with type 2 diabetes. They reviewed data from January 1, 2013, to June 30, 2015 after several medical societies issued guidelines to curb unnecessary home glucose testing. The data reflected patients with private insurance or Medicare Advantage plans who were not taking insulin and who filled prescriptions for packets containing 90 test strips three or more times a year. This pattern of prescribing suggests the patients were monitoring their blood sugar levels regularly.

The study found that 14 percent of people who likely didnt need to perform glucose monitoring were using an average of two test strips a day.

We were pretty surprised at how prevalent this was, Platt says. We also found that almost 25 percent of people were filling at least three prescriptions for at least 90 strips which is 180 strips in a given year. These were not people who were checking their blood sugar for a month or so. This was regular usage over a period of time.

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What Is A Diabetes Test Kit

A diabetes test kit is used to monitor your blood glucose levels. It is a finger pin prick blood test that can be taken at home, which can be especially useful if you need to conveniently check how well your diabetes treatment is working.

The results of a glucose or blood sugar level test will show if your average levels are at, above, or below the normal range over the last 4 to 6 weeks. For example, low glucose levels can cause a condition known as hypoglycaemia which could cause you to lose consciousness if not treated. High blood glucose levels can suggest a condition known as diabetes which could also affect your eyes, nerves, blood vessels, and heart.

Both high or low blood sugar results can be dangerous and if you get one of these results youll need to visit your doctor for further advice. In either case, early diagnosis and treatment can help prevent damage to your body.

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How Do I Check My Blood Glucose

If you are unsure about how to use your blood glucose meter, there are various healthcare providers who can teach you, such as:

• a diabetes nurse educator
• the practice nurse at your GP surgery.

The following is a guide:

• Wash and dry your hands before testing.
• Insert a test strip into your meter.
• Use your lancet device to get a drop of blood from the side of your fingertip to get a better-sized drop of blood, try warming your hands before testing.
• Touch and hold the edge of the test strip to the drop of blood and wait for the result.
• Your blood glucose reading will show up on the glucose meter display.

It’s important to record your blood glucose level. Some blood glucose meters may record your blood glucose levels automatically or you can record your results in a diabetes diaryor in an app on your phone. Read about diabetes apps. You need to take your blood glucose record book or app to all appointments with your doctor, diabetes nurse educator or diabetes nurse specialist. They can check your blood glucose levels and decide on any medicine changes.

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What Is The Normal Range For Blood Sugar

In general, the American Diabetes Association’s recommended blood sugar levels are9:

• Between 70 and 130 mg/dL before meals
• Less than 180 mg/dL after meals

Your range is yours alonebased on your health, age, level of activity and other factors. And remember that your target is a range you’d like to stay within, not a single number.

What Should I Do If My Blood Sugar Gets Too Low

Low blood sugar is also called hypoglycemia . It means your blood sugar level drops below 70. Having low blood sugar is dangerous and needs to be treated right away. Anyone with diabetes can have low blood sugar. You have a greater chance of having low blood sugar if you take insulin or certain pills for diabetes.

Carry supplies for treating low blood sugar with you. If you feel shaky, sweaty, or very hungry, check your blood sugar. Even if you feel none of these things, but think you may have low blood sugar, check it.

If your meter shows that your blood sugar is lower than 70, do one of the following things right away:

• chew 4 glucose tablets
• drink 4 ounces of fruit juice
• drink 4 ounces of regular soda, not diet soda or
• chew 4 pieces of hard candy

After taking one of these treatments, wait for 15 minutes, then check your blood sugar again. Repeat these steps until your blood sugar is 70 or above. After your blood sugar gets back up to 70 or more, eat a snack if your next meal is 1 hour or more away.

If you often have low blood sugar, check your blood sugar before driving and treat it if it is low.

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Best Customer Satisfaction: Everlywell

• Results are verified by an independent, board-certified physician

• Highly recommended by over 100 satisfied customers

• Results in 5 to 8 days

• Offers a wide-range of home screening tests

• Slower turnaround time than many other services

• Not available in New York, New Jersey, or Rhode Island

• Blood sample takes 15 minutes to dry before it can be mailed out

• Requires a larger quantity of blood than some other tests

Everlywell was selected for its easy-to-understand website content, simple ordering process, and clear and understandable online educational data about HgA1C testing. The company was also selected due to its high number of positive customer satisfaction reviews.

With more than 110 satisfied customer reviews, the Everlywell test method is fast and easy to use. The company has been around since 2015 and claims to have served a million people for at-home testing.

The website is encrypted to ensure data security and the company complies with HIPAA standards the company vows never to sell or share any of your data, under any circumstances.

The test works like this: Once you receive your test kit, you’ll enter your unique test ID. Then, you’ll complete a finger prick, and apply the blood to a sample collection board. After the sample dries, you’ll send it in via a prepaid shipping envelope. A board-certified physician will read the results, and you will receive your lab results on a secure platform in five to eight days.

Home Test To Check If You Have Diabetes

Written byBel Marra HealthPublished onOctober 22, 2015

Testing blood sugar at home can be an effective way to treat and monitor your diabetes. Diabetes is one of the top 10 causes of death in North America. About 29.1 million people in the U.S. have diabetes 8.1 million cases are undiagnosed.

Suspecting that you or a loved one might have diabetes can be scary. It is a condition that causes sweeping changes to a persons lifestyle. In most cases, because the early signs of diabetes are not known, being diagnosed comes as a shock. However, there are affordable tests that can be done at home to help diagnose diabetes in its early stages.

But before you embark on home testing, its important to recognize the symptoms that can help you determine if home testing is necessary. Major symptoms of type 2 diabetes include:

• Excessive thirst
• Sores and cuts that wont heal

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What Are Diabetic Home Tests

Although going in to see your doctor will give you accurate blood sugar readings, it can be a hassle making an appointment, waiting to see your doctor and traveling to and from the office. Instead you can do at home testing, which can help you better monitor and control your diabetes.

There are different types of at-home tests you can complete daily to properly monitor your blood sugar levels. You can do a blood test, urine test or use an A1C kit.

Those who would benefit from diabetic home testing are those with type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, prediabetes and individuals who are showing signs of diabetes. By keeping track of blood sugar levels you can gauge how your current treatment and lifestyle habits are affecting your condition.

A normal blood sugar reading, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , is between 70 and 140 mg/dL. Low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia is considered when a reading is below 70 mg/dL and hyperglycemia, or high blood sugar is a reading over 140 mg/dL.

Maintaining healthy blood sugar levels not only helps control or prevent diabetes, but it reduces your risk of developing diabetic complications like diabetic coma, eye disease, gum disease, kidney disease and nerve damage.

Is It Covered By Insurance

Whereas most health insurances cover blood work prescribed by your doctor and performed in a lab, its doubtful that your insurance will cover an at home A1C test unless its a prescribed kit.

However, you can always call your insurance company or look up your benefits and find out if your plans cover at-home kits. If it does, your insurance company may have a preferred brand or specific process for you to get your kit.

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Is Gestational Diabetes My Fault

IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT! This is due to the hormones released from the placenta. Those who are not diabetic are able to increase insulin production sufficiently enough. Those who cannot increase insulin production enough, or cannot use the insulin that is there effectively enough, are diagnosed with gestational diabetes.

At Home Diabetic Test: Blood Test

The easiest and most accurate at home test for diabetes is a blood sugar test. Blood sugar meters usually come with a small amount of test strips, as well as a lancing device. It is important to follow the directions included with the meter. Also, before testing your blood sugar, it is important to wash your hands first to eliminate any sugar residue, which could alter the readings. Normal fasting blood sugar should be between 70-130 mg/dl. If testing within two hours of eating, then the results should be less than 180 mg/dl.

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How We Chose The Best At

The companies offering at-home diabetes tests were selected according to the unique services they provide, the speed of results, cost, the quality of the tests and lab testing facilities, as well as consumer reviews and special services offered .

Pixel Labcorp earned the best overall title for its quality testing process, access to medical professionals, and longevity in providing lab services. Home Access stood out as a budget option for its low cost and its easy-to-follow instructions, thanks to a video the company provides. LetsGetChecked was a top pick for its medical support, as a 24/7 team of nurses is on standby to help with your testing process and explain your test results.

Structured Blood Glucose Testing

Structured testing supports your routine or daily testing by giving you deeper, more targeted data to work from. It can help you determine if you’re in a safe range and problem-solve around how the things you do are connected to your blood sugar. You simply perform additional tests over a short period at specific times of day.

Structured blood glucose testing can help you:

• Discover how to best use your numbers
• See how certain activities can affect on your blood sugar levels
• Problem-solve around highs and lows
• Identify blood sugar patterns
• Work with your healthcare team decide if any adjustments are needed in your insulin therapy or other areas of your diabetes management

Pattern management: If you find that your A1C result is rising in spite of your best efforts, or if you don’t feel as well as you’d like, talk with your healthcare professional about the Accu-Chek 360° View tool. This simple paper tool helps you track your blood sugar over 3 days, so you and your doctor can quickly identify patterns that can guide adjustments to your treatment plan. As a result, you may be able to feel better and lower your A1C.2

Before-and-after testing: You may also decide to try the Accu-Chek Testing in Pairs tool. This easy-to-use, printable tool helps you see changes in your blood glucose with before-and-after testing. In just 7 days, you can see the effect a specific meal, exercise or other event has on your blood sugar.

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The Only Way You Can Find Out If You Or A Loved One Has Diabetes Is From Blood Tests That Measure You Blood Glucose Levels These Can Be Arranged Through Your Gp

A diagnosis of diabetes is always confirmed by laboratory results. Youll usually get the results of your blood test back in a few days. If you have symptoms that came on quickly and youve been taken into hospital, the results should come back in an hour or two.

A finger prick test using a home testing kit may show you have high blood sugar levels but won’t confirm you have diabetes.

A normal blood test result will show you don’t have diabetes. But the result will also show if you have diabetes or are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

When Should You Test Your Blood Sugar

It depends on which type of diabetes you have:

• Type 1 diabetes. Itâs up to your doctor. They could suggest you test anywhere between four and 10 times a day. For example, you could test before meals and snacks, before and after exercise, before bed, and even during the night. You may also need to check more often if youâre sick, making changes to your daily routine, or starting a new medication.
• Type 2 diabetes. It depends on what you take to treat your diabetes:
• Insulin. The doctor may tell you to test a few times a day, depending on the type and amount of insulin you use. Youâll probably test before meals and at bedtime if you’re taking multiple daily injections. You may need to test only twice daily, before breakfast and dinner, if you only use a long-acting insulin.
• Medications. If you use drugs to manage diabetes, your doctor will tell you how often to check your blood sugar.
• Lifestyle changes. If youâre relying on diet and exercise, you may not need to test your blood sugar daily.

Show Sources

American Diabetes Association: “Choosing a Blood Glucose Meter,” tion: “Standards of Medial Care in Diabetes — 2014,” “A1C and eAG,” âChecking Your Blood Glucose.â

Mayo Clinic: âBlood sugar testing: Why, when and how,â âType 2 diabetes.â

The National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse.

National Diabetes Foundation Program.

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Tests For Gestational Diabetes

Gestational diabetes is diagnosed using blood tests. Youll probably be tested between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy. If your risk is higher for getting gestational diabetes , your doctor may test you earlier. Blood sugar thats higher than normal early in your pregnancy may indicate you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes rather than gestational diabetes.

What Should I Know About Ketones

Ketones appear in your urine when your body uses its own fat for energy instead of sugar. Ketones usually appear when your blood sugar level is more than 300 mg/dl. If ketones build up in your blood, you can develop a very dangerous health condition known as ketoacidosis. Ketones are most likely to occur in people with Type 1 diabetes.

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Non Fasting Blood Tests

HbA1c

An HbA1c test is the main blood test used to diagnose diabetes. It tests your average blood sugar levels for the last two to three months. You dont need to prepare for a HbA1c . Its a quick and simple test where a small amount of blood is taken from a vein in your arm. This is different to a finger-prick test, which is a snapshot of your blood sugar levels at that moment.

Youll normally get the test results in a few days. From these results, your healthcare professional will be able to see if you have diabetes. If you didnt have any of the symptoms of diabetes before you were tested, youll need to have the test again to confirm the result.

You have diabetes if your HbA1c level is 48mmol/mol or above..

You are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes if your HbA1c is between 42 and 48mmol/mol.

Random blood glucose test

If you have severe symptoms of diabetes, you may have a random blood test at any time of the day. This is a quick test, through a finger-prick or a vein in your arm.

If you have a finger-prick test, youll get the results straight away. If you have a blood test through a vein in your arm, youll get the results in a few days.

You or your loved one have diabetes if your blood glucose levels are 11.1mmol/l or more – regardless of how recently you ate.

But any diagnosis from a finger prick test will need to be confirmed by a blood test sent to a laboratory for results.

How To Lower Glucose

Food, exercise, stress, insulin and medication all may impact your blood sugar levels. By checking your numbers, you can begin to see how your lifestyle choices and diet are affecting your glucose readings. This can make it easier to better control your blood sugar. Plus, your medical provider can use the data to help assess how well your treatment plan is working, so that he or she can make changes as needed. Checking blood sugar levels can help alert diabetics to instances of dangerously high or low glucose levels. It can also help those diabetics who use insulin to calculate the correct dosage they will need.

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