Here is some interwesting info I received today. I have also posted this info on my personal blog.
So I was at work today and one of my colleagues comes by my office and tells me, “Hey, I know you have been checking out insulin pumps for your Diabetes. I ran into a guy I know here who is on the pump. He told me to pass on his name if you had any questions.” So I decided to email him to see if he wouldn’t mind me coming down (I work on the 6th floor and he works on the 2nd) and talking to and asking him some questions.
So I went down and we started talking about the pump, his diabetes, my diabetes and everything else you could possible think of. In our discussion, the subject of testing your levels and meters came up. I told him that I was looking into switching to a new meter (the Wavesense Keynote) because I have had some inaccuracies in my OneTouch Ultra 2 in the last year. He told me, Thats great if the inaccuracies are actually caused by the meter but it is possible that it is not the meter but the blood." I was a little confused at this point. So he explained what he meant by this.
Blood pools at your appendages (fingers and toes.) When you test your blood from your fingers, the initial draw from the finger prick has a higher concentration of everything that your blood consists of. This includes glucose. So, because of this, it is much more likely that your initial draw of blood from your finger is less accurate (and likely higher if inaccurate) that a second draw from that same finger.
So what he told me to do, to get the most accurate test possible, is to prick your finger and draw a sample. once the sample is drawn, wipe the sample off of your finger with a cloth (or anything that will not compromise the area) and draw a second sample from the same finger prick. This will draw out the pooled blood from the initial draw and make sure that you are getting blood that is not possibly contaminated with higher concentrations of glucose.
This makes total sense. He told me you could also use alternative sites (like your forearm) to avoid the pooling effect. I kind of wondered how he found out about this. As I was about to ask him, he said to me, "the reason I know this is because when I use to live in San Antonio, I use to participate in a lot of studies and would have communication with many experts in the Diabetes field. They found this to be true in a majority of the tests that they did.
I was really impressed with the information he was able to give me on the pump (he currently uses the Minimed 712) and tips on managing with the pump and diabetes in general.
So anyone who wants to maximize the accuracy of their blood test and thier overall diabetes, I suggest giving it a try. When you test your blood, try this method on one finger and try a single draw on another finger over a period of days and see if it helps. You really have nothing to lose by trying it. Especially those of use who my be on more of a roller coaster with their results and not exactly sure why.
Just wanted to pass this on to everyone.
Wow! I didn’t know that!!! Thanks Chris! Have a GREAT Afternoon! :} :}
You are right that does make sense. Thats why when ever I am at the endo’s and getting my stick done they wipe it with a 2X2 before taking a sample. One of the many little things that makes such a big difference in life.
awww… you just want us “lickers” to stop.