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Diabetes Articles - Testing Glucose

Last Update: December 26, 2008
  • "The Pursuit of Noninvasive Glucose" an eBook by John L. Smith.
  • Blood Glucose Meters
  • Second Generation Meters
  • Third-Generation Meters
  • Blood Glucose Meters
  • "Lag Time in AlternativeLand: Are Alternative Site Meters Dangerous?" is a news report on a disturbing finding presented by two German scientists at the ADA Scientific Sessions in Philadelphia in June 2001 and responses from three of the companies that manufacture alternative site testing meters.
  • "Are You 'In Charge' of Your Blood Glucose?" reviewed LXN's In Charge meter.
  • "AtLast You Can Be In Charge" reviews and compares two new blood glucose meters. It was published in the May 2000 issue of Diabetes Wellness Letter, pages 1-3.
  • "The Painless Revolution" reviews the five new blood glucose meters that use alternative sites, specifically including the forearm, to test sugar levels. Because these alternative sites have few nerve endings, testing is essentially painless. This article was published in the June 2001 issue of Diabetes Wellness Letter, pages 5, 8.
  • "Meter Memories" tells the surprising beginnings of blood glucose meters. It was published in the March 2000 issue of Diabetes Wellness Letter, pages 1, 6.
  • For verbatim transcripts of the interviews on which the "Meter Memories" article was based together with photographs of the original meter, its patent, and its inventor see "The History of Blood Glucose Meters"
  • "The GlucoWatch Biographer" is about the meter from Cygnus Inc. that the Food and Drug Administration approved on March 22, 2001.
  • Testing After Meals: The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists has new guidelines that say that postprandial glucose should be 140 mg/dl or less. But the guidelines fail to state if the testing should be one or two hours after beginning or finishing a meal.
  • "Accurate Meters" is about the HemoCue 201 meter and the surrounding question of meter accuracy.
  • "Advances in Lancets" is about the new BD Ultra-Fine 33 gauge lancet that just became available in early 2003 and the forthcoming Pelikan Sun electronic lancing device.
  • "Stripping Down the Cost of Testing" reviews the four meter systems with the least expensive test strips.
  • "10 Reasons You Love Your Meter So Much" is mostly serious. Diabetes Health published this article in its July 2004 issue.
  • "GlucoMON: In Touch When You Can’t Be" is a product review of an automatic and wireless device to send blood glucose readings. Diabetes Health published this article in its August 2004 issue.
  • "Why Bother to Calibrate?" tells you why you (usually) need to calibrate (code) your blood glucose monitor. Diabetes Health published this article in its October 2004 issue.
  • "Precision Comes before Accuracy" means that an accurate meter isn't worth anything unless it is precise. Diabetes Health published this article in its November 2004 issue.
  • "The Medicare Mystery" is how to get what you deserve. Diabetes Health published this article in its December 2004 issue.
  • "The Noninvasive Dream" is to have some sort of beam that would test blood glucose without breaking the skin to take a drop of blood. It's coming. Diabetes Health published this article in its January 2005 issue.
  • "Navigating Lows and Highs" originally appeared in the February 2005 issue of Diabetes Health and is now also online here.
  • "Birds for Better Blood Glucose Testing" originally appeared in the March 2005 issue of Diabetes Health and is now also online here.
  • "The Next Generation of Continuous Monitors" originally appeared in the April 2005 issue of Diabetes Health and is now also online here.
  • "Tracking the GlucoLeader" originally appeared in the May 2005 issue of Diabetes Health and is now also online here.
  • "The GlycoMark Option" originally appeared in the June 2005 issue of Diabetes Health and is now also online here.
  • "Meters in the 21st Century" originally appeared in the July 2005 issue of Diabetes Health and is now also online here.
  • "Viva Aviva!" originally appeared in the August 2005 issue of Diabetes Health and is now also online here.
  • "Recent Research Reports" originally appeared in the September 2005 issue of Diabetes Health and is now also online here.
  • "Setting Performance Standards for Continuous Monitors" originally appeared in the October 2005 issue of Diabetes Health and is now also online here.
  • My article reviewing the work of the two leading organizations that evaluate blood glucose meters — DirecNet and Consumer Reports originally appeared in the November 2005 issue of Diabetes Health and is now also online here.
  • My article in the fall 2005 issue of Type 2 Life magazine on “When to Test and Why” points out the evidence for the current shift to testing after meals, rather than before breakfast, at least for people whose diabetes is well controlled. This shift is good for Novartis and its Starlix, because that drug can help control mealtime highs.
  • My article about the new Sidekick meter from Home Diagnostics is a kick. The meter is not only the world’s smallest diabetes testing system, but also one of the easiest to use. It also carries a small price. Most remarkably, it is the first disposable meter.
  • Meters are too variable. We know that intuitively and now the scientists know that scientifically. Meter Variability originally appeared in the January 2006 issue of Diabetes Health and is now also online here.
  • Educational Materials: Meters For those of us who are looking for educational materials about diabetes, it’s only people like us who use the Web are in luck.
  • HemoCue is Coming We have been waiting a long time for a really accurate and precise meter. It’s almost here, and it’s called the HemoCue Monitor.
  • A Meter That Talks Sense This article is about blood glucose meters for the blind or visually impaired. It is mostly about the forthcoming SensoCard Plus but includes all of the other talking blood glucose meters, including the brand new Prodigy.
  • Will Abbott Navigate With the Aviator? This article is about the pairing of Abbott’s forthcoming continuous sensor  — the Navigator  — and its proposed insulin pump  — the Aviator.
  • The JDRF Artificial Pancreas Project The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International has committed up to $6.5 million to fund research leading to an artificial pancreas system.
  • Why Patients and Doctors are Struggling with Meter Reimbursement We are all struggling because nobody can keep track of all the different blood glucose meters and the complexity of health insurance.
  • Blood and Sweat without Toil and Tears. VivoMedical in Cupertino, California is developing non-invasive meter that measures glucose in sweat instead of glucose in blood. The trick is to correlate sweat with blood glucose. The company says that is pretty much what it figured out.
  • The Year of the MeterThis may well go down in history as the year of the meter. Not since Tom Clemens patented the first blood glucose meter in 1971 have we seen such significant advances. These advances include both traditional meters and continuous sensors.
  • MiniMed
  • Pumping in Real Time The MiniMed Paradigm REAL-Time Insulin Pump and Continuous Glucose Monitoring System is the first linked insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor. Olympic athlete Chris Jarvis tells me how it works.
  • The DexCom Continuous Sensor DexCom’s short-term sensor got quick FDA approval and even quicker distribution. I interviewed a most satisfied user, Aaron Kowalski of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. In addition to telling Aaron his glucose values every five minutes, the DexCom sensor also gives him high and low alerts and a low glucose alarm. But he especially values the trend data, and feels in control of his diabetes for the first time in his life.
  • Transmitting Tests without Wires The GlucoTel is the first meter to wirelessly send blood glucose results. Developed by a company in Germany, it will work with your cell phone — assuming that it’s Bluetooth enabled, as almost all modern cell phones are.
  • The OneTouch UltraMini LifeScan promotes its new OneTouch UltraMini meter for people with diabetes who don’t have health insurance coverage. It’s that inexpensive. But my guess is that even more people will use it as a second meter to carry in their purse or pocket. It’s that small.
  • LifeScan
  • Novo Nordisk

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