Taking Control of Your Blood Glucose Monitoring

For many people, an important part of learning to live with diabetes is mastering how to monitor blood glucose levels. We understand that this can be very challenging and we are here to help.

In this newsletter we’ll be discussing the importance of blood glucose monitoring, what to consider before you start to self-monitor and will be sharing tips on how to choose the right meter.

Blood Glucose Monitoring

Why Monitor Your Blood Glucose Levels?

For some people with type 2 diabetes, self-monitoring blood glucose can put you in control of your care and help you understand how changes to your diet, exercise routine and medication may impact your blood glucose levels.1,2 Talk to your healthcare professional to find out if self-monitoring may be right for you, particularly if you are taking insulin, are prone to hypoglycaemic episodes (low blood sugar), are taking an oral medication that may increase your risk of hypoglycaemia or if you are planning to become pregnant.2,3

What to Consider When Starting to Self-Monitor?

When self-monitoring your blood glucose levels it’s important to talk to your healthcare professional to ensure that you are following a plan that is right for you. These are some important things to keep in mind:2

  • Develop a monitoring schedule – Talk to your healthcare professional to create a monitoring schedule that suits your needs, including when and how frequently you should take your blood glucose readings.

  • Keep a record of your results – Record your blood glucose readings using an app to make tracking easy. Take your record to your healthcare professionals’ appointments so they can review the results and determine if anything in your diabetes care plan may need to be adjusted (i.e. diet, exercise or medication).

Remember that self-monitoring can take time to get used to so if you have any questions make sure you reach out to your healthcare professional.

How to Choose the Right Meter

It is important to choose a meter that is accurate, easy to use and that you feel comfortable operating.  When choosing a meter, here are a few questions you can ask yourself: 

  • How easy is the meter to use?
  • How accurate are the readings?
  • Can you connect it to an app to track your blood glucose levels over time?
  • Does it have any useful features that can help you understand the results?
  • Can you apply more blood to the same test strip if the first reading failed?

The CONTOUR®PLUS systems from Ascensia are easy to use and have been shown to deliver highly accurate results.4 Additionally, its connection to the CONTOUR®DIABETES app and features such as Second-Chance® sampling can help to make blood glucose monitoring a more convenient part of everyday life.4       

Learn more about the CONTOUR® family of connected meters and app systems that can make managing your diabetes feel less like a challenge.

Get your meter here.

Get Comfortable with your Meter

Do you want to know more about how to use your CONTOUR®PLUS meter? Watch this video to learn how easy it can be to test your blood glucose levels.

Stay tuned for our next update, which will be focused on sharing more information about the accuracy and precision of our CONTOUR®PLUS blood glucose monitoring systems!

References

1. American Diabetes Association. Davies MJ et al., Management of Hyperglycemia in Type 2 Diabetes 2018. A Consensus Report by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD). Diabetes Care 2018;41(12): 2669-2701.

2. American Diabetes Association. Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes–2021. Diabetes Care. January 2021;44, Supplement 1.

3. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Type 2 diabetes in adults: management. Updated Aug 2019. https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng28/chapter/Recommendations. Accessed January 11th 2021.

4. CONTOUR®PLUS BGMS User Guide [country to localize and insert latest version number of user guide / need to check locally]

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