liviNg
the secret life
of your blood
test strips...
We take the little strips used in blood testing for granted,
but you’d be surprised at the science involved in each one.
h
aving a blood test coding, incorrect hand washing,
meter that you can altered haematocrit*, or naturally
just pick up and put occurring interfering substances.
in your pocket is finally, external interfering substances
still one of today’s may contribute errors to the system
modern miracles in terms of diabetes evaluation of blood glucose.”
self-care. in an article written in 2009 so your strips matter, you meter
for the Journal of Diabetes science matters and your blood testing technique
and technology barry ginsberg (m.D., matters too. to a great extent you can *Haematocrit is the proportion of blood volume that
Ph.D) started his study by saying, be assured that most blood test meters is occupied by red blood cells (erythrocytes), and is
“glucose monitoring has become test just fine – this article is not about to expressed as a percentage. Many factors can cause
an integral part of diabetes care but state otherwise, it’s purpose is to reveal haematocrit levels to change which can affect the
has some limitations in accuracy. exactly what goes into making a blood performance of some blood glucose meters (for
accuracy may be limited due to test accurate, starting with the strips example, if you’re dehydrated, your results might be
strip manufacturing variances, strip themselves but in conjunction with its falsely low making you think you need to take some
storage, and aging. they may also be meter. food/sugar to boost your blood sugar levels).
due to limitations on the environment
such as temperature or altitude or
to patient factors such as improper
continued over