Why is it important to monitor blood glucose levels?
Checking and monitoring of your blood glucose (sugar) levels are very important because it’s one of the main forms of keeping your diabetes under control. It can be tracked using several different kinds of tools. Blood glucose levels should be especially monitored in patients taking insulin, patients who are pregnant, those have difficulty with blood glucose control, patients that have low blood sugar levels with or without warning signs, or patients who have ketones.
Ketones are molecules that can be detected in a urine test and are made when there is not enough insulin in the blood. The body then starts to use fat for energy instead of glucose. Ketones are more common in the urine of patients with type 1 diabetes.
One way to monitor your glucose levels is with a continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) device. Unlike a blood glucose meter (BGM) which monitors blood glucose at a specific moment, a CGM device tracks glucose levels throughout the day and night and can alert you if your levels go too high or low. CGM systems take glucose measurements at regular intervals and translate them into dynamic data to show glucose direction and rate of change. This way you can see trends and gain insight into the impact that meals, exercise and illness can have on your glucose levels, so you can better manage your diabetes.
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