Medical equipment suppliers are finding that they are having to deal with a lot more competition in the field than there was a few years ago. Although medical equipment sales have increased there are also many more companies around, many of whom are willing to lower their prices in order to complete a sale.
One of the most popular items which are sold for home use is the glucometer. Glucose meters are used to do a glucose blood test on patients to check if they have diabetes. The blood sugar concentration or blood glucose level is the amount of glucose (sugar) present in the blood of a human or animal. The body naturally tightly regulates blood glucose levels as a part of metabolic homeostasis. Blood sugar levels outside the normal range may be an indicator of a medical condition.
If the body fails to maintain normal levels of glucose, it may give rise to several disease conditions. Persistently high blood glucose is called hyperglycaemia. Diabetes mellitus is characterized by persistent hyperglycaemia from any of several causes. It results from the body’s failure to regulate blood sugar. Long term hyperglycaemia leads to damage to several organs like the retina, kidneys, arteries etc.
If blood sugar levels drop too low, a potentially fatal condition called hypoglycaemia develops. Symptoms may include lethargy, impaired mental functioning; irritability; shaking, twitching, weakness in arm and leg muscles; pale complexion; sweating; paranoid or aggressive mentality and loss of consciousness.
Since approximately 1980, a primary goal of the management of type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes mellitus has been achieving closer-to-normal levels of glucose in the blood for as much of the time as possible. The benefits include a reduction in the occurrence rate and severity of long-term complications from hyperglycaemia as well as a reduction in the short-term, potentially life-threatening complications of hypoglycaemia.
Higher-than-normal random blood glucose levels may be a sign of diabetes. In someone with diabetes, it may mean the diabetes is not well controlled. Your doctor will order a fasting blood glucose or a glucose tolerance test, depending on your random test result.
Other medical problems may also cause higher-than-normal blood glucose levels, including:
- Overactive thyroid gland
- Pancreatic cancer
- Pancreatitis
- Rare tumours
Lower-than-normal blood glucose levels (hypoglycaemia) may be due to:
- Hypopituitarism
- Underactive thyroid gland
- Too little food
- Too much insulin or other diabetes medications
There are very few risks involved with taking a glucose blood test but obtaining a blood sample from some people may be more difficult than from others, as veins vary in size from one patient to another and from one side of the body to the other.