Blood Glucose Monitoring

There is much debate about self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) in individuals not requiring insulin. The Royal Australian College General Practitioners suggests:
“For people with type 2 diabetes not receiving insulin therapy:
frequency of SMBG should be individualised, depending on type of glucose-lowering medications, level of glycaemic management and risk of hypoglycaemia.
When glycaemic management is not being achieved, SMBG should be instituted and should include periodic pre- and post-prandial measurements and training of healthcare providers and people with diabetes in methods to modify health behaviours and glucose-lowering medications in response to SMBG values”.
https://www.racgp.org.au/getattachment/41fee8dc-7f97-4f87-9d90-b7af337af778/Management-of-type-2-diabetes-A-handbook-for-general-practice.aspx However, person centred care would recommend many reasons for self-monitoring of blood glucose levels at any point in a person’s journey with their diabetes. These include, but not limited to,

• Knowing immediately if an individual’s glucose levels are within target range.
• Being able to better understand what impacts blood glucose levels including physical activity, food, medicines, stress, travel, and illness.
• Being able to identify and act on patterns.
• Being able to identify and treat hypoglycaemia if an individual is on medicine that can cause this as a side effect (sulfonylurea or insulin)
• Help an individual actively seek support from their health care team.

The combination of blood glucose monitoring AND HbA1c will provide a person with diabetes a more significant understanding of their health condition. It is a tool for them to use throughout their journey with their diabetes.