Blood sugar testing is part of the daily grind when it comes to diabetes management. Albeit important, it is also the main frustration of my diabetic control. Yes, it only takes all of thirty seconds, start to finish. But I tend to think, each and every time, that's thirty seconds I'll never get back. And then I do the mental math for recreational torture: 4 tests a day, 30 seconds each, 365 days a year, 20 years...you get the idea. I'd like to review two options that might offer some remedy from the inconvenience of glucose testing: the glucowatch, and the artificial pancreas.
The glucowatch is intended for detecting trends and tracking patterns in glucose levels in adults and children with diabetes. It's available by prescription, only. The site disclaims, The G2 Biographer is intended to supplement, not replace, conventional blood glucose monitoring. Several years ago I journeyed west into NYC to guinea pig myself in the clinical testing of the watch. Does anybody use this thing?
The artificial pancreas is a man-made organ that has three parts, all of which have to work perfectly in synch: a sensor that continually monitors blood or tissue sugar levels, an insulin infusion pump, and a computer algorithm that controls the delivery of insulin minute by minute based on measured blood sugar. The brilliance of artificial intelligence might be our remedy while we patiently await the cure.
If anybody knows of other options to mitigate the annoyance of blood glucose testing-blog it back!
1. Unfortunately, there is no non-invasive blood testing device that is even close to accurate. The best thing we have now are real-time glucose monitors that are inserted under the skin, much like a pump infusion set. And even those are still working out the kinks.
If you ever come across some new testing technology, please let us know. That would definitely improve the lives of millions of people over night!
Posted at 7:22PM on Sep 11th 2006 by David Edelman