How to check diabetes at home?

Before the test of diabetes, know what is diabetes?

Diabetes is called diabetes mellitus in medical term. This is a very old and common disease associated with metabolism. In diabetes, your body loses its ability to make and use a hormone called insulin. When you have diabetes, the amount of glucose in your body increases excessively. This condition can later lead to serious diseases related to eyes, kidneys, nerves and heart. Learn how to check diabetes today? What are the things to keep in mind during diabetes screening?

By the way, if you or someone close to you is suffering from diabetes, then it is very important for you to be aware of how the blood sugar level i.e., diabetes should be checked at home. You can check your diabetes with a drop of blood at home with a portable electronic glucose meter. The benefit of self-examination is that it will help you prevent and deal with future problems due to diabetes.

How to check diabetes at home? (How to do Diabetes test at home?)

A lot of time is wasted in making appointments, going to the hospital, seeing the doctor, waiting for the reports etc. to get the blood test done from the hospital. Instead of this, there are many types of devices available in the market nowadays, which prove to be helpful for you to check and control your diabetes sitting at home. You can do blood test, urine test and HbA1c test from home.

1. Diabetes can be diagnosed with a blood test

The blood glucose meter is the most common device for diabetes prevention. For normal people, this device gives a reading of 70 to 100 mg/dL at all times. If the blood glucose is checked for 8 hours without eating or drinking, the reading should always be less than 100 mg/dL. A sugar level is considered low when the glucose level reading is below 70.

If the glucose level on an empty stomach is 100 to 125 mg/dL then you may have prediabetes or fasting sugar. When the reading of glucose level is more than 126 mg/dL then you will definitely have diabetes.

Controlling the level of sugar in the blood will not only keep your diabetes under control, but you will also avoid other diseases caused by diabetes such as eye disease, kidney disease and nerve damage.

2. Diabetes can be checked with urine

The urine sample of a diabetic person can be tested using a self-test kit sitting at home. Those who have diabetes will do this test to check for ketones and microalbumin. But it is not as important as diagnosing the level of glucose in the blood.

3. Diabetes can be diagnosed with the help of A1C test

Hemoglobin A1C test is quite new in the test done at home but its result is always correct. It can tell the reading of our body’s average blood sugar level for the last 3 months. While the urine test will tell you the sugar level at the same time you are testing, this device is now easily available.

The normal person will get its result between 4 to 6 percent. A reading of 5.7 to 6.4 percent for prediabetes and 6.5 percent or higher for diabetes will be found. According to the American Diabetes Association, patients with diabetes should keep an A1C result below 7 percent to avoid serious problems later on.

Along with checking for diabetes, it is also very important to take care of some things. like-

• Wash hands thoroughly before testing for diabetes and before taking out the testing kit.
• If the area (skin) is to be tested for diabetes, then clean that area thoroughly with the help of alcohol, warm water or soap. After that wipe the place thoroughly.
• Some tests can be done on the arm or other less sensitive area. Keep in mind that blood sugar levels may not change immediately. According to health experts, it would be better to take blood from fingers to check blood sugar level.

When to get tested for diabetes?

Diabetes screening should be done at the following times. like-

Morning empty stomach (without eating or drinking anything)

Blood test should be done early in the morning without eating or drinking anything. With this, information about the sugar level in the body of a person suffering from sugar can be found.

Blood sugar level before eating

The blood glucose level should be low before a meal. This can make it easier to understand whether the glucose level is high or low.

Sugar level after eating

Testing for diabetes after a meal can give information about what the sugar level is now. By the way, blood test should be done after 2 hours of eating food.

If you are a diabetic patient, pay special attention to diet. like-

Fatty Fish – Omega-3 fats are present in fatty fish, which reduces the risk of inflammation, heart disease and stroke in the body.

Green Leafy Vegetables- Green vegetables like spinach can be consumed along with green vegetables. This keeps the eyes and heart healthy.

Cinnamon – Cinnamon is considered to be very beneficial in controlling the sugar level. With this, along with keeping sugar under control, cholesterol and type-2 diabetes are also controlled.

Chia seeds – The presence of fiber in chia seeds is helpful in controlling the blood sugar level.

Turmeric – Mineral elements like Vitamin-C, fiber, iron and zinc present in turmeric are also helpful in keeping fit as well as controlling sugar level.

Broccoli – The nutritious elements present in broccoli, low calorie and low carbs are considered good for the patient of diabetes. Broccoli also reduces the risk of diabetes as well as other diseases.

We hope you liked this article of ours. If you want to know the answer to any kind of question related to diabetes screening, then it would be better to understand from the experts. If you have any other question you can ask here. We will try our best to answer all your questions in the comment box. You must share this article to make your near and dear ones aware of this information.