Blood glucose monitoring and ketone testing are integral to a sound diabetes management program. An advanced diabetes management system makes both easy to achieve.
A unique blood glucose testing monitor is available from London Drugs. The Precision Xtra is a compact, lightweight glucose monitor that provides precise and accurate results. It also measures blood beta ketone levels. These two measurements are crucial to the proper control of diabetes.
Accurate Test Strips
The improved Precision Xtra blood glucose test strips have all the benefits of the previous dual-fill test strips, but use 60 percent less blood and take half the time to use (five seconds). Dual-fill strips allow the user to apply blood to the top or end of the strip. This makes it easier to apply the blood.
The unique chemistry of Precision Xtra blood glucose test strips means that they are less prone to aberrations caused by substances that interfere with glucose readings. (These include other sugars, vitamin C, aspirin, cholesterol and uric acid.) This results in an accurate reading - an important contributor to effective diabetes management.
Why Measure Ketones?
When the body does not have enough insulin available, it uses fats for fuel instead of glucose. If the fat is burned too quickly, ketones are produced. These can make your blood acidic. The body filters out ketones from the blood and removes them via the urine.
When a lack of insulin causes too much fat to be burned, blood ketones can build to a dangerously high level - a condition known as diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). This is a serious condition that can lead to diabetic coma or even death. The presence of ketones in the blood is a warning sign that your diabetes is not being managed correctly and needs to be brought under control.
Ketone testing is an important part of diabetes management for people with Type 1 diabetes. Although the urine method of testing for ketones is more common, testing for blood beta ketone is considered more accurate and timely. When elevated ketone levels are detected in the blood, insulin therapy can be administered immediately. When detected in the urine, two to four hours have already passed.
In the United States, testing for beta ketone in the blood is believed to have reduced hospital and emergency room visits for DKA by up to 50 percent.¹
The Precision Xtra advanced diabetes management system measures beta-hydroxybuturate - the predominant ketone present in DKA.
Precision Xtra ketone test strips are sold separately.
1. Diabetic Medicine 23 (3), 278-284