Saturday, December 18, 2010

Are skin-wearing devices adequate for blood sugar monitoring?

There are several skin wearing devices that can measure blood glucose. These watch like devices use tiny electrical currents to sense the fluid below the skin. If the blood sugar levels are too high or too low, the watch will sound an alarm.  

Do these devices work?

Not really. The blood sugar levels measured by the watch almost always varies the standard method of blood sugar measurement with a pinprick.

Other negative of the watch is that many individuals also develop skin irritation. Further these devices do not work if the skin is wet (e.g. if you sweat a lot). Like the infrared device, one has to periodically monitor blood sugar by the finger prick method to ensure that the two methods do not give drastically different results.

Finally, the devices are expensive and not reliable. Final advice- not worth the money or hassle.

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