"Self-monitoring blood glucose" (SMBG), a staple in the lives of most people with diabetes who take insulin, involves consistently monitoring and recording blood glucose levels before and after specific activities, such as eating, exercising, sleeping, and taking insulin. By observing the effects of certain foods and activities on their blood glucose levels, patients can learn exactly what works to raise or lower them. Thus, SMBG affords a kind of "fine tuning" approach to diabetes that empowers patients to adjust their medicine, modify their behavior, and manage their disease without always needing expert intervention. 

So it's hardly surprising that an international study sponsored by Roche Diagnostics has confirmed that SMBG is a useful tool.

The study, published by SAGE Publications in The Diabetes Educator, looked at the SMBG practice of "paired testing," in which people with diabetes measure their blood glucose levels before and after specific activities to see how modifications in those activities might lead to better BG management. The researchers, located in five far-flung locations-Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore, and Washington, DC-found that SMBG is helpful to patients because it increases their sense of control and provides nuanced information that allows them to finely hone their diabetes management.

The researchers also looked into the possibility that non-insulin-taking type 2s could benefit from SMBG. Because about 40 percent of type 2 patients are treated with oral drugs or through diet, constant self-monitoring of blood glucose has not been thought to be necessary. Even type 2s who take a combination of oral medications and a daily dose of long-acting insulin are not required to take anywhere near the number of self-administered BG tests that SMBG usually calls for. Given the depth of information and sense of control that SMBG affords, however, even type 2s who do not use insulin may soon hear their healthcare professionals recommending SMBG as part of an aggressive approach to managing type 2.

* * *

Sources:

press release #1

press release #2

The Diabetes Educator Research Article