Routine self-monitoring of blood glucose for people with type 2 diabetes who do not take insulin has been a debate for many years (I’m guessing as long as blood glucose meters have been around).
Yet another article about this topic was published recently. This article discusses a review that was done on 12 studies looking at the value of blood glucose monitoring in people with diabetes who do not take insulin. This review showed that checking blood glucose had a modest effect on lowering A1C (that only lasted about 12 months), and had no effect on patients’ satisfaction, general well-being, or general health-related quality of life.
I have to admit that I recommend blood glucose monitoring for everyone I see – at least for a little while. For those who are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and are not taking insulin I recommend checking before and after a different meal each day for the first few weeks after diagnosis. This can really help people see the effect of certain foods and beverages on the blood glucose level. It can also be extremely motivating to see the blood glucose level drop after exercise.
My rationale for encouraging blood glucose monitoring at least for a little while is that I feel everyone deserves to get the whole picture – all the information possible. There are, of course, special circumstances – often related to cost – where blood glucose monitoring is not recommended.
If you have diabetes and do not take insulin, please share your thoughts on monitoring blood glucose. Have you done it? Has it helped you? Has it made things worse? What was your experience?