Monitoring blood glucose levels

摘要

According to the American Diabetes Association, 29.1 million Americans, 9.3% of the population, had diabetes in 2012. The association provides further breakdowns by age and race, but the bottom line is that "diabetes remained the seventh leading cause of death in the United States in 2010, with 69,071 death certificates listing it as the underlying cause of death, and a total of 234,051 death certificates listing diabetes as an underlying or contributing cause of death."1 There is no question that the disease is life-threatening if not properly managed. On the other hand, it can be controlled through diet and exercise for the large percentage of patients with type 2 diabetes or through insulin injections for the approximately 1.25 million Americans with type 1 diabetes. For both these groups as well as for people with related conditions such as hypoglycemia-low blood sugar-periodic blood sugar (glucose) testing is necessary.