Home Blood Glucose Testing And Diabetes: What's The Importance Of Self-Monitoring (SMBG)?

Checking your blood sugar levels is an important part of making sure your diabetes is under control. Self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) allows you to collect accurate information about your blood glucose levels at any point in time, to achieve control of your blood glucose levels, and to prevent hypoglycemia (low blood glucose).

Benefits of SMBG​

SMBG allows you to determine your blood glucose levels at any time. However, you need to be able to keep a log of your results so that you can monitor the progression of your diabetes. Then, you will be able to offer your healthcare provider an accurate picture of your blood sugar levels over a period of time. This allows them to determine whether or not your blood sugar levels are responding as intended to the treatment.

Having accurate information about your blood glucose levels will enable you and your doctor to make decisions about any changes that need to be made regarding your diet, level of physical activity, insulin dose, or doses of any other medication you may be on, such as metformin. You can either record your blood glucose levels on paper, electronically using a mobile phone app, or have a modern blood glucose monitoring machine that emails you and your healthcare professional your blood glucose levels via wifi.

Studies that have been conducted on the effect of SMBG on blood glucose control have shown the following:

• In patients with type 1 diabetes, clinical trials have shown that SMBG helps improve health outcomes and specifically, increased frequency of SMBG is correlated with an improvement in HbA_1c, one of the parameters with which blood glucose is measured.
• In patients with type 2 diabetes, studies have shown that higher frequency of SMBG led to better control of blood glucose levels among people on insulin treatment, as they were then able to adjust the dose.
• Some studies question the true impact SMBG has in helping improve blood glucose levels. One study found that patients type 2 diabetes only had minimally better blood glucose control when they used SMBG often.

So, who should be actively using SMBG?

Doctors recommend that all patients with diabetes and those at risk of diabetes should be using SMBG. In the cases of prediabetics, SMBG helps them spot diabetes, allowing it to be caught and treated early on. These are the people that should be checking their blood glucose levels actively:

• People taking insulin or any other diabetes medication.
• Pregnant women and women who have had diabetes in a previous pregnancy.
• People who are having a hard time controlling their blood glucose levels.
• People who have low blood glucose levels, particularly those who develop low blood glucose without any of the usual warning signs.
• People who have ketones (a byproduct of fat breakdown) due to high blood glucose levels.
• People with prediabetes. 

How do you use SMBG and monitor your glucose levels adequately?

Generally, using SMBG involves checking your blood glucose levels by pricking your fingertip, taking some of the blood and putting it into a blood glucose meter. Here is a step by steo guide on how to check your blood sugar levels:

1. Wash your hands
2. Insert the test strip into the blood glucose meter
3. Using the pricking device in your fingertip, obtain a drop of blood
4. Put the edge of the test strip to the drop of blood
5. The blood glucose level will appear on the display
6. Keep a record for you and your doctor to access later

While this the most common way of checking your blood glucose levels, all meters are different. Therefore, read your blood glucose meter’s manual before proceeding and ask your doctor if you have any questions.