The Do Nothings

For people with diabetes, nothing is more common than the self-monitoring test of blood sugar. It makes sense for people with type-1 diabetes, as it plays a role in determining the amount and timing of insulin injections.

However, But, for those with type 2 noninsulin-dependent diabetes, daily finger sticks don’t make much sense unless you do something about the results!.  Many who do routine finger-stick testing don’t do anything consistent if their blood sugar is too high or too low – other than to worry. They don’t increase their oral drugs. They don’t even alter their insulin (which a quarter of type-2s are on). All they do is gripe about it!

In other words, these people (and millions of others) religiously stick their fingers every day to get readings that they don’t do anything about! When I ask why, they say, “Well, my doctor tells me to.”

It’s funny but physicians don’t pay much attention to finger-stick readings either. They focus on hemoglobin A1C, a test that gives the average blood sugar over a six-to-eight week period. If the A1C is going up, they intensify their therapy. If it’s going down, they’re happy. If it stays the same, there’s less cause for concern.

Finger-stick measurements are superfluous. Nevertheless, it doesn’t seem to enter the minds of physicians or patients to question this expensive and often painful practice. It’s just plain silly.

But there is a way to put this popular test to good use.

Test – Exercise – and Test Again

We encourage people with type-2 diabetes to continue their finger sticks. However, we give them a specific course of action to take if their blood sugar is high: Go for a walk.

Exercise is like insulin in its ability to lower the blood sugar level – and lower it fast. When you’re in a resting state, the large muscles of your body require insulin in order for glucose to enter the cells. If those muscles are exercising, however, glucose and other nutrients can enter the muscle even in the absence of insulin. This is a well-known but little-used method of lowering blood sugar, and it is ideal for individuals with type 2 diabetes.

For instance, if a patient does a finger stick and his blood sugar level is 280 (substantially higher than he would like) he should simply walk for about a half hour. Wait another hour and repeat the finger stick. More often than not, he will see a dramatic drop, sometimes below 200. That’s how powerful a therapy exercise is.

We encourage people to record their initial blood sugars and the type and duration of the physical activity they responded with.  Then record the results of their repeat finger stick test an hour after exercising. Not only does this give you something to do about a high blood sugar level, but it promotes a course of action that substantially improves diabetes control.

At least if you do this, self-monitoring becomes a tool for therapeutic results – not just a painful, expensive waste of time!

Cut Costs, Improve Health

Unfortunately, most finger sticks are rarely, if ever, utilized in a constructive manner. Nevertheless, the practice persists, despite dozens of scientific studies showing that routine self-monitoring does not improve blood sugar control. Instead, it drives up health care costs and is actually associated with poorer quality of life and higher risk of depression.

It’s easy to figure out why it is this way: just follow the money!  Glucose meters cost around $75, although they’re usually heavily discounted and, in some cases, provided free of charge. Test strips, however, which cost pennies to make, have a price tag of up to $1 apiece, and many patients test several times a day. That’s a multibillion-dollar windfall for medical device companies.

According to studies published in the British Medical Journal, blood sugar test strips are the single largest expenditure in diabetes management in the UK. And Canadian researchers report that from a price perspective, they’re in the top three to five categories, outpacing all oral diabetes drugs combined! Furthermore, the bulk of these test strips are used by people with noninsulin-dependent type 2 diabetes—precisely the type of patient who benefits the least – unless they do something (exercise) to lower high readings.

We hope you’ll pay attention to this information and pass it on to others because this seldom-used therapy is as powerful as any oral diabetes drug. If a finger stick test reveals a high blood sugar level, take a walk, retest, and see for yourself the tremendous role exercise plays in the management of diabetes.