There are several different ways to infer blood glucose levels through chemistry and electricity using disposable strips and meters. You might not realize it but there are clearly some meters and strips that are custom made for you and some that you need to avoid. I have some more analysis to do yet before posting a resource on mygluco.com that helps you determine which chemistries and methods are best for you vs which ones you need to avoid.

For starters however, did you know that when you are in a high altitude environment you need to avoid meters/strips that are based on glucose oxidase? How many of you take echinacea to boost your immunity? If that’s you then you definitely need to avoid test strips from 2 of the top 4 meter manufacturers. But if you’re at high altitude that same meter that might be the wrong choice for an echinacea lovin’ person might be the perfect choice.

All of this information is published online but good luck finding it and even more luck trying to make sense of it. Then why doesn’t the average physician, diabetes educator or patient know this? Hmmm? I’ll try to avoid conspiracy theories as I flesh this out and report on this as a clear and cited resource.

In summary, I know of at least 5 different categories that should influence our decision regarding which meter and test strip is best for us:
- physiology
- lifestyle
- prescriptions
- diet
- cost (formulary & co-pay)

Do you know of any other considerations?

Stay tuned for more on this life-critical topic (seriously - people have died because they used the wrong meter/strip). In the meantime, you might start asking around to see if anyone else is aware of this little secret and why it’s not in the mainstream. I’d like to know, too. You might also make sure you fill out your personal health record with information around those 5 categories so that your medical team can be aware and make better decisions with you vs for you.

Check out this very important update on hemoglobinopathies in our midst.  It’s nice to have our HomeCheck-A1c solution validated, finally.  Since our approach includes hemoglobinopathy detection via HPLC-BA as step 1 followed by a second analysis by the most accurate method for determining A1c (HPLC-IE).  HomeCheck delivers the solution to the problem raised by this bulletin which does not offer a clear answer in and of itself.

Read on…

As reported today in a Kansas City infoZine article , the NIH/NIDDK has launched an A1c awareness campaign relating to the various methods of testing blood for A1c and their ability (more like inability) to deliver accurate results. Considering over 850 causes of interference with A1c testing, most A1c’s are at risk of delivering the wrong information and that problem exists in both directions; falsely high and falsely low and that could spell big problems for the patient.

Fortunately, we saw this coming and have been developing our HomeCheck-A1c over the past 24 months. It is unique in its ability to detect these variants and also uses the most highly accurate method in one of the highest quality labs in the country to ensure good information based on sound science.

Like I said, everyone needs to have a reliable A1c and you can’t get that unless you use HomeCheck-A1c!

More info and ordering at http://ezA1c.com