Two new studies are suggesting that finger sticks and daily blood sugar monitoring is unnecessary and costly for the majority of Type 2 diabetics, according to a recent article published on the CTV Toronto website.
One of the studies, which appears in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, finds that for Type 2 diabetics that do not need to take insulin injections, the modest benefits of daily testing do not outweigh the significant costs associated with test strips. That’s because most are not likely to adjust their medication day-to-day to combat high blood sugar readings.
People with diabetes typically place a drop of blood drawn from their finger onto a test strip, which works in coordination with blood glucose monitoring device to let the user know their blood sugar count. For people with Type 1 diabetes, who rely on insulin injections to regulate their blood sugar levels, and people with Type 2 diabetes that also take insulin shots, test strips are a necessary and important tool.
A separate article from the Globe and Mail suggests that using the test strips for 40 years only added about six days to a person’s life, but comes at a cost of about $1 per strip. People that tested their blood sugar more than seven times a week had only a slightly better statistical chance of avoiding some of the disease’s worst complications.
Researchers examined the Ontario Public Drug Programs to gauge the true cost of the test strips, according to the CTV account. They found that test strips are their third largest cost at $100 million and that use of the strips has increased 250% among the city’s seniors between 1997 and 2008. With the number of people with diabetes expected to swell significantly, those costs will only go up.
In the end, researchers conclude testing once or twice a week is just as effective as testing daily or multiple times a day and may actually benefit the patient’s mental health. Additionally, an A1C is an effective way to monitor a patient’s blood sugar control. The singular test, which is often administered by a doctor, measures a patient’s blood sugar control over a period of several months.
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