Posted on 09/01/2007 1:12:22 AM PDT by IslandJeff
Diabetics could be giving up vital home blood sugar checks because they believe they are of no use, says a researcher.
Psychologist Dr Elizabeth Peel interviewed type 2 diabetes patients, and found that many were confused over what to do with the results.
Writing in the British Medical Journal, she said that some doctors simply ignored detailed records kept by diabetics, compounding the problem.
Charity Diabetes UK called for more support for patients.
"Well I'm filling out this book, nobody ever looks at it...so why am I inflicting this pain on myself for nothing?"
Type 2 diabetes patient
In type 2 diabetes, levels of glucose in the blood can get too high, which in the long term can be damaging to health.
Home blood glucose testing devices, which work by analysing a pinprick of blood, can be bought at many high street chemists.
They allow patients to monitor the peaks in their blood sugar levels, in theory to help them adjust their diet to keep levels stable, and to seek medical advice if they are consistently too high.
Confusion
Dr Peel, from Aston University, carried out detailed interviews with 18 patients over a four-year period to find out whether they were complying with this testing regime, and what they thought about it.
She found that while some found it reassuring, others were coming to the conclusion that it was pointless.
One patient told her: "Well I'm filling out this book, nobody ever looks at it - and you go to the doctors, and they take your blood, and they can decide from what your levels are - so why am I inflicting this pain on myself for nothing?"
"If patients cannot understand their blood glucose fluctuations they cannot modify their behaviour"
Dr Elizabeth Pell, Aston University
Others started out testing regularly, then ended up testing less and less often, and there was some confusion over the right point to go back to the GP, even among those who said that their blood glucose levels were high.
Dr Peel urged health professionals to be explicit about whether and when such patients should self monitor and how they should interpret and act upon the results, especially high readings.
Doctors' role
She said: "The role of health professionals is crucial, particularly as patients seem to need more guidance about interpreting and responding to readings.
"If patients cannot understand their blood glucose fluctuations they cannot modify their behaviour."
Some experts believe that daily self monitoring helps to control blood glucose levels and it is often recommended.
But others believe that self monitoring is complex and inconvenient and can lead to feelings of frustration and guilt.
As such, there is still no firm agreement about the role and value of self monitoring for patients with type 2 diabetes.
A spokesman from Diabetes UK said: "Unfortunately, we are aware that many people with diabetes, in particular those with type 2, are not been given adequate education to enable them to manage their diabetes for themselves by acting on the meter readings effectively.
"We would support healthcare professionals in providing information and resources to make sure that people with diabetes can make the appropriate choices when it comes to self-monitoring."
Related to this story:
Diabetes problems 'vitamin link'
(07 Aug 07 | Health )
NHS 'fails on diabetes self-care'
(17 Jul 07 | Health )
Diabetes
(09 Feb 99 | Medical notes )
RELATED INTERNET LINKS
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Health |
|
|
|
|
|
|
^ Back to top | BBC Sport Home | BBC Homepage | Contact us | Help | ©
Note: I posted the low-graphic BBC article. Please reference the source URL.
-Jeff
Thanks.
Adjunct Opinion from a Type I: Type II’s benefit from testing more than Type I’s, for the simple reason of judging the efficacy of the interface of meds, diet, exercise, and other variables.
For all, of course, a fasting BG (eight hours ++) is a crude but still very usable measurement of glucose control. Of course, the A1C is a better wide-angle snapshot, but witness the results of Socialized Medicine: poorly-educated patients.
Stay well out there.
Here’s an article about counterfeit OneTouch test strips from (where else?) China.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=auALxoE6LCg0&refer=asia
Excerpt:
Su was charged with producing fake versions of OneTouch Test Strips sold by J&J’s LifeScan unit, which are used by 10 million Americans to take sensitive measurements of blood-sugar levels. China was the source of about 1 million counterfeit test strips that have been found in 35 U.S. states, Canada, Greece, India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, according to U.S. federal court documents.
New Brunswick, New Jersey-based J&J, the world’s biggest consumer-health products maker, learned about the counterfeit tests after 15 patients complained about faulty results last September.
I’m guilty of not testing very often. I used to test myself a couple of times per day, but now only test about a couple of times per week.
However, I’m now 60 pounds lighter, I watch what I eat, I ride a bicycle 20 miles per day, I’m off metformin, my A1C numbers are always 5.x, and I can’t remember the last time I measured above 120.
At least for now.
Things change, which is why I still test occasionally. I know at some point I won’t be this fortunate.
And to my GP’s credit, whenever I take my meter in with me and show him my high/low/average for the last 30/60/90 days, he types them into my computerized records.
I saw a similar article a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, what happens in the course of normal life is that folks don’t usually calibrate each batch of test strips with their control solution.
[understandably, since the strips are damned expensive]
Not to excuse the counterfeiters, of course. Scumbags.
Great news. You should treat yourself. 5.x is nearly imperceptible among a cohort of non-diabetics.
“Stable” diabetics register at 6.5 or under. Don’t stop what you’re doing.
Unfortunately, I just found out that Dyazide, which is prescribed for high blood pressure, can cause an increase in blood glucose. My doctor, who put me on this medication for the past two years, had “no clue” that increase in glucose can be a side effect of this drug. Since starting this drug, my blood sugar started to climb. Again, the doctor had no clue. IMO, physicians are too busy collecting goodies from drug companies, to care what side effects the drugs they’re handing out like candy do to their patients. Beware of pill pushers that hand you two or three prescriptions after each visit to their office.
Here’s an interesting article on physicians not reporting or dealing with drug side effects. Buyer and patient beware!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/24/AR2007082401714.html
Well those pricks post food and in the pm are not bad.
I got gutsi since my A1’s were comining back non diabetic.
Truth learned after getting a horrible female issue, and I am chaste and no I only orally digest fruits. Sorry no pervert story here.
My female issue came up just as it did 3 yrs ago eating to much fruit. Summer ADA amounts but not good. Fruit smoothies with ADA amounts but boi can u suck one down...had to go to moderation.
and finally get into selzer water smoothies....
How ever (insert spoiled brat) I have brought my BG down to happy Lab and no flag.
Folks been telling me the latest scare that Diet 7up is bad.
I don’t care the only anti puke drink I can handle is Diet 7up in sips....water/bottled no fizz and my stress levels = barf alerts.
Sorry for the content Island J your so layed back and supportive but I am a hard working white old lady.
Hey BTW my fingers are getting a bit ripe from pricking.
Is it ok to go up the arm (same results????) and how do I do it...my blockie blood runs easy and I bleed easy. Just one alchohol pad away aye, yours truly.
Love to your pancreas Island J.
Lord help us. The testing isn’t “for the doctors” its for me. The doctors are just a (highly trained) service providers.
Likewise, its still my plumbing and I’m the one who care most about it even though I hire a plumber.
So sorry to de ribbon ya’ll.
When I regresses and however ya’ll get there I whom never in her life adorned her body ( I work hard/harsh job ) with silly jewels went out and bought a more money than I make per quarter of the year BLUE DIAMOND from the house of TAZ bracelet and I put it on when ever I go out.
My reminder you worked so hard to reverse this for now and it looks great.
I can now sip real OJ after a 20 hr no food fast due to work issues and do wonderful.
Another tip as I get HUNGREY on the road is I order food in bites.
Or appitizers. I taste it but don’t eat too much quantities and get my (I love ) rabbit food too.
Now if I can figure out how to stop the tazor pains and the dog from sleeping on my bed (ok but he tries to scoot me out and we are talking twin bed).
He is a vascular issue. Some how I love it.
Way better than my over pricked fingers.
Your experience is a good example of why patients need to do research themselves. It is unfortunate but doctors are often not very up to date about the meds they prescribe.
You are absolutely correct. The Internet provides all of us a means to investigate, on our own, what we are being prescribed and the interactions between the drugs that we’re already taking. If one is not careful, their physician can do them major harm. Sadly, when one questions their doctor, many physicians display an attitude of “superior” intellect to you despite the fact that their patients are educated. The old days of a patient thinking their physician is God are over. Kind of parallels our Godly politicians who also think they know all. Patient beware.
They sure do. I was doing fine off of meds, etc and then menopause hit and it's been a struggle. Things are better with Byetta, but if I didn't test often, I'd be up the creek. You have to test so you know where you are. Otherwise you could be giving too much or too little meds. I don't wait to see the doc to determine how I should be treating myself; it changes from day to day and you have to be on top of it.
The British docs aren't doing their job. My docs download my readings and we go over them and tweak the regime if necessary.
I have experienced a slow but progressive neuropathy in both feet for over 5 years, but my doctor always checked my fasting blood sugar and told me that diabetes was not the cause. He NEVER - and still has not - done a glucose tolerance test. Then in early 2005, although my fasting glucose was still normal, my A1C was 7.4. At that point he prescribed a meter and monitoring, twice a day.
Within the first week I had dinner at a chinese restaurant, including a large serving of rice drenched in sweet sauces. That night, I registered 239. Clearly, my diet would have to change - and it did. Rice? Perhaps a spoonful, perhaps once in a week. Potato? Equally glycemic, and equally forbidden. A stolen french fry now and then.
Bread and pasta are a little less poisonous but still must be limited. I eat a slice of pizza now and then, or have a sample of one or the other at Sams Club or Costco. And when we dine out, I do grab one thin heel slice of the artisan breads from the better places. I do NOT consume plain breads or “convenience” buns.
I eat meats - including fats - and depend on Lipitor to keep my cholesterol under control. I eat most kinds of vegetables, and a few servings of fruit daily. I avoid most desserts, sometimes having melon with lemon juice, or strawberries (in season). Once in a while, I take an inch of the tip of my wife’s cheesecake.
Within a few months, my A1C went down to 5.2%, and my glucose averages, morning and night, were 100 and 101, respectively, and have changed very little since then. However, my A1C has crept back to 6.0, right on the edge of normal.
But my neuropathy has progressed to an absence of normal sensation almost up to my knees, and real difficulty with my balance without clear visual cues. (Washing my hair in the shower is an adventure.) I have tried gabapentin and pregabalin for the tingling. Both seemed to help for a few weeks, but not after that. Nerve conduction in my legs is about 2/3 normal, according to my neurologist. He is still checking for other causes, but I am beginning to believe that I will have to start on some active glucose control if I am ever to regain normal feeling in my feet.
My A1C is, well, less than great (between 7.4 and 8.4), but feet and eyes are 100%. The only neuropathic symptom I’ve noticed is occasional numbness in the back of my left thigh. Sort of a numb/heat. Not painful, just annoying. Only happens when laying in bed.
Eat a lot of fiber, though. No refined flour, if possible.
Google “benfotiamine”.
Wow! If half of that is true I needed to be using it yesterday. I find some cautionary notes about overdosing, particularly due to the fact that it is fat-soluble and therefore can accumulate to potentially toxic levels in the body, unlike water-soluble vitamin C, for instance. Americans have the most expensive urine in the world due to the high levels of water-soluble drugs and food supplements to be found there.
But the 10-year record of use in Europe offers a reasonable degree of reassurance, and I have ordered a 6-month supply from http://www.americannutrition.com/ , which seemed to have the best price. Do you have personal experience with Benfotiamine?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.