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How do glucose test strips work?
What are blood glucose meters & test strips?
How does a blood glucose test work?
Where can I buy blood glucose test strips?
How do you use a glucose meter?
How do you check a blood sugar meter?
Sep 9, 2019 · Put a test strip into your blood glucose meter. Prick your fingertip with the meter’s tiny needle (called a lancet). Squeeze out a drop of blood and touch it with the edge of the test strip ...
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- Overview
- What are glucose test strips used for?
- How do glucose test strips work?
- How accurate are glucose test strips?
- Can you buy glucose test strips over the counter?
- Are blood glucose test strips covered by insurance?
- Popular glucose test strip brands
- Should you use test strips beyond the expiration date?
- Frequently asked questions
•What are test strips?
•How do they work?
•Accuracy
•Where to buy
•Insurance and Medicare coverage
•6 popular brands
Let’s start with the basics: Blood glucose meters and the test strips they require allow you to measure and monitor blood sugar levels at home and on the road. First developed in 1965 and used in doctors’ offices, meters and test strips became available at home in 1980.
To take a blood sugar reading, insert the strip into the meter and apply a drop of blood after using the needle to poke your finger. Most meters produce a reading within seconds. The meter can store that data for later review by you and your doctor.
Meters and strips are now an essential part of diabetes management for most folks with diabetes. That includes more than 30% of people with type 1 diabetes who now use CGMs, yet still do fingerstick tests to calibrate (reset the accuracy of) their monitors.
However, backup fingerstick tests are not required by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with some of the newer CGM systems, including:
•Dexcom G6
•Abbott Freestyle Libre
If you have diabetes, it’s probably a very familiar drill: You stick the test strip into the meter’s slot, prick a finger with the lancet, draw out a drop of blood, and transfer the blood to the edge of the test strip.
Even though the technology might seem old-fashioned when compared with insulin pumps, CGMs, or other new technologies for diabetes care, what happens next is pretty ingenious:
1.The chemicals in the strip react with glucose to create an electric current.
2.The electrons travel to the meter.
3.The meter then determines how much glucose was required to generate that much electricity.
4.Bingo: Your blood glucose number flashes on the screen.
This has been a controversial issue because some brands of meters and strips appear more accurate than others.
There’s also concern about the accuracy of models that have been on the market for many years and have not been tested for accuracy since their original approval by the FDA.
The California-based nonprofit Diabetes Technology Society (DTS) tested 18 popular blood glucose meters and compared their results to those of outside laboratories that tested the same blood specimens.
The DTS gold standard is that a meter and its test strips should yield blood glucose readings within 15% or 15 mg/dL of the laboratory values at least 95% of the time.
In several studies, only six brands passed this accuracy test:
•Contour Next from Bayer: 100%
In the United States, glucose test strips are available over the counter at big box stores, independent retail pharmacies, and many websites, including Amazon, eBay, discount pharmaceutical sites like GoodRx, and manufacturers’ online sites. You can also find them in the so-called “gray market” (see below).
Test strips are covered by:
•most commercial insurers
•Medicare
•Medicaid
According to survey data passed directly to us from the diabetes research firm dQ&A, most people with diabetes get their test strips through health insurance — 82% of people with type 1 diabetes and 76% of those with type 2 diabetes, to be exact.
But even with this coverage, test strips can often be very pricey.
Glucose test strips pretty much all work the same way. You simply plug one into the glucose meter brand they are designed for and place your blood sample on the end of the strip where a tiny sensor is embedded to get a reading. The slight differences in strip brands are found in the amount of blood required, time to result, and cost.
The costs can vary dramatically, and they can add up, especially if you buy them without insurance.
The manufacturer’s stated shelf life of most test strips is 18 to 24 months.
Diabetes author and educator Wil Dubois explains, “most strips… can be used for a good period beyond their official expiration date. But at the same time, with all the variables that can impact a strip’s lifespan and the tremendous variety of strips out there, I don’t think we have a prayer of getting a hard-and-fast rule about how long a typical strip might last.”
Do you need a prescription to buy diabetes test strips?
You do not need a prescription to buy test strips over the counter in the United States. But insurers usually require a healthcare professional’s prescription to cover specific brands of test strips, blood glucose meters, and other supplies.
Which glucose meter has the cheapest test strips?
Prodigy test strips for several brands of Prodigy meters appeared to be the cheapest at the time of our research in August 2022. Even among the most budget-conscious glucose meters and strips, many factors may affect your product choice. See this guide to drugstore brand glucose meters for details.
Is it legal to resell diabetes test strips?
There’s no law against buying and selling diabetes test strips on the open market. As a result, a growing “gray market” has emerged, where companies buy and resell test strips. Go online and you’ll find more than a few outfits doing this, with names like TestStripSearch.com, QuickCash4TestStrips.com, and Stripsupply.com. As mentioned in another article, the savings here don’t appear to be that great, and given that the quality control in these outfits is uncertain, we urge caution. Some sellers may try to peddle expired goods, for example. Partly in response to this gray market, California has begun to regulate the supply chain of diabetes products, including glucose test strips, to prevent fraud and ensure patient safety. The FDA issued a warning to consumers about the safety of “pre-owned or unauthorized” test strips in April 2019. However, the agency noted that it was unaware of any deaths or serious injuries from these strips. In other words, buyer beware.
Oct 18, 2011 · Several times a day, they prick a finger to obtain a blood droplet and apply it to a plastic strip that’s inserted in a glucometer — a hand-held device that tells them if their glucose level is high, low, or right on target. It’s usually the job of the pancreas to keep track of sugar levels and to secrete glucagon and insulin to keep them ...
Jun 17, 2020 · In the early ‘90s, electrochemistry was combined with the test strip technology. The glucose oxidase enzyme was used to transform glucose into an electrical current that would then be read out by the glucometer as a glucose concentration. This has become our current glucose test strips. How Does the New Test Strip Work?
- Good until the expiration date on the bottle.
- Good until the expiration date on the bottle.
- Expiration Duration
Aug 26, 2024 · Drink 4 ounces of regular soda. Chew four pieces of hard candy. Recheck your blood sugar 15 minutes after doing just one of these things, and repeat the process until your blood glucose level is over 70 mg/dL. If you are having problems increasing your blood glucose level, call a healthcare provider for help.
Jan 16, 2024 · A blood sugar meter is used to test blood sugar. The meter measures the amount of sugar in a small sample of blood. Most often, the blood comes from the side of the fingertip. Then the blood is placed on a disposable test strip. With certain CGMs, you still may need a blood sugar meter to set your CGM device daily.
Speak to a health care provider if you’re worried about the accuracy of your blood glucose tests. You can report any problems you have with your meter and test strips to Health Canada. To report to Health Canada, you can: call toll-free at 1-866-234-2345. fill out the form below.
