Can You Count on Your Glucometer?
CNN-IBN | Sep 14, 2006
Nishant Ugal
CNN-IBN- New Delhi
How often do you use a glucometer to test your blood sugar level? If you are diabetic and you completely trust your glucometer for blood test, then you might be taken for a ride. CNN-IBN investigates on the reliability of these home kits.
When former union minister Arif Mohammad Khan used glucose monitoring device for his blood test he discovered he was a diabetic. The meter read 153 units.
Arif then cross checked the result from Max Pathology lab. His blood sugar level changed dramatically. It came down to 93, 60 units less than what the Glucometer showed.
Arif says, “I conducted tests on the machine continuously for 4-5 days. Everyday I got a variation of 50 to 60 units as compared to the glucometer. I was shocked.”
To check the reliability of glucose monitoring devices, three prominent brands, Roche's Accucheck, Acon Labs On-Call and Bayer Health Care's Entrust, were taken into account. Then random blood samples were given to all three machines simultaneously.
The first machine showed blood sugar level at 132 units. The second machine On-call showed sugar level as LO, which is less than 50 units. In the third machine Entrust the sugar level was 106. So three different readings from three glucometers.
With the help of these glucose-monitoring devices, it is still not clear what is the actual level of the blood sugar. Instead these machines have confused further.
So if you are a frequent user of these readily available machines, then think twice or else these glucometers can even prove to be lethal.
Well-known Heart Surgeon Dr Naresh Trehan says that these electronic kits have to be tested against medical labs for six months. And if they don't work properly he has a solution.
Escorts Heart Institute, Director Dr Naresh Trehan says, “These machines have to be calibrated regularly, if not then throw them away.”
Doctors say that patients should not rely completely on the home-kits, as they usually give variable results. So if you are a diabetic patient, use that glucometer with a grain of salt.
CNN-IBN- New Delhi
How often do you use a glucometer to test your blood sugar level? If you are diabetic and you completely trust your glucometer for blood test, then you might be taken for a ride. CNN-IBN investigates on the reliability of these home kits.When former union minister Arif Mohammad Khan used glucose monitoring device for his blood test he discovered he was a diabetic. The meter read 153 units.
Arif then cross checked the result from Max Pathology lab. His blood sugar level changed dramatically. It came down to 93, 60 units less than what the Glucometer showed.
Arif says, “I conducted tests on the machine continuously for 4-5 days. Everyday I got a variation of 50 to 60 units as compared to the glucometer. I was shocked.”
To check the reliability of glucose monitoring devices, three prominent brands, Roche's Accucheck, Acon Labs On-Call and Bayer Health Care's Entrust, were taken into account. Then random blood samples were given to all three machines simultaneously.
The first machine showed blood sugar level at 132 units. The second machine On-call showed sugar level as LO, which is less than 50 units. In the third machine Entrust the sugar level was 106. So three different readings from three glucometers.
With the help of these glucose-monitoring devices, it is still not clear what is the actual level of the blood sugar. Instead these machines have confused further.
So if you are a frequent user of these readily available machines, then think twice or else these glucometers can even prove to be lethal.
Well-known Heart Surgeon Dr Naresh Trehan says that these electronic kits have to be tested against medical labs for six months. And if they don't work properly he has a solution.
Escorts Heart Institute, Director Dr Naresh Trehan says, “These machines have to be calibrated regularly, if not then throw them away.”
Doctors say that patients should not rely completely on the home-kits, as they usually give variable results. So if you are a diabetic patient, use that glucometer with a grain of salt.
Mail this Topic 
A Network Eighteen Venture
Tell us what you think…