Voice of the Diabetic

Voice of the Diabetic

Back|

Next|

Table of Contents|

Home

NEW METER READS KETONES TOO

When a major manufacturer

like MediSense brings out a new blood glucose monitor, it is an occasion of

interest. When that meter closely resembles the proven Precision QID, and provides

both "finger-stick" glucose test results and a quick assay of blood ketones,

it is extremely interesting.

We all know the importance

of regular and frequent blood glucose testing. There are a number of high-quality

home blood glucose monitors available, and the new Precision Xtra is one of

them. But there's more.

Ketones are a chemical

product of normal human metabolism, from the breakdown of stored fat. When one

is healthy, their production is not excessive, and they are quickly excreted

via the kidney. Someone who is exercising heavily, fasting, perhaps on a hunger

strike, or diabetic, may manufacture an excessive amount of these ketones. In

combination with high sugars, elevated ketones can produce a lethal condition

called "diabetic ketoacidosis," or DKA. If you have diabetes, and have been

running a blood glucose above 240, you need your ketones checked.

The traditional test for

excessive ketones has been urinalysis. But, The American Diabetes Association

Clinical Practice Recommendations for 1999 states: "Urine tests for ketones

are now considered unreliable, while blood testing for beta-hydroxylbutyrate

(the predominant element in DKA) is appropriate for diagnosis and management

of diabetic ketoacidosis."

With these recommendations,

and the fact that a hospital pathology lab test for ketones is hardly "immediate,"

and often not available at all, a pocket-sized monitor that tests for blood

ketones, and provides immediate results, is a very good idea.

The Precision Xtra uses

two types of test strips -- one for glucose, and the other for ketones. Each

package of 100 glucose test strips ($71 suggested retail) also includes four

ketone strips. Packages of ketone strips alone (eight strips for $32) are available

from MediSense; telephone: 1- 877-2849. The meter's suggested retail is $87.

The test strips are touchable,

and the meter can be brought to the test area -- it does not have to be kept

level. More blood can be applied to the strip. And, although the ketone-test

strips are expensive, this is not a test you will need to perform often.

Although the Precision

Xtra incorporates many advanced features, and indeed provides an important new

tool for diabetes management, it is not for everybody -- it does not incorporate

(nor does any MediSense glucose meter) any provision for speech synthesis, and

blind diabetics would like access to this new test too.

Back to Top