Why is it important to monitor blood glucose (sugar)?
Regular blood glucose monitoring is an essential part of evaluating your child's blood glucose balance and diabetes control. There are several tools to help you and your child monitor diabetes control:
- Blood glucose checks allow you to see whether your child's blood glucose is in the target range and correct it if necessary. Keeping track of blood glucose results allows you to see patterns of highs and lows and decide whether an insulin dose adjustment is needed.
- Urine checking tells you whether there are sugar and ketones in the urine.
- Checking blood for hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c or A1c) shows diabetes control over a 3-month period.
You should become familiar with these tools. They are useful only when they are used accurately and interpreted wisely.
Keeping track of patterns: Using a logbook
The first step in spotting patterns or trends in glucose levels is to set up a logbook to keep track of blood glucose levels and insulin doses. The logbook must be filled out daily. Effective diabetes management is like putting the pieces of a puzzle together. You can’t complete the puzzle without all the pieces.
Many pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies have logbooks for diabetes management. Children can also make their own.
A logbook should keep track of:
- the amount and timing of each insulin injection
- the time and result of each blood sugar check
- the results of any urine tests for sugar and ketones
- any unusual events related to the diabetes, such as a missed snack, a minor illness or heavy activity, and all insulin reactions—including the time of day and, if possible, the cause of the reaction
Why all the effort? Accurate daily records will help you, your child, and your team decide when changes are needed in the insulin dose or meal plan. Be sure to record the results of tests and the amounts of insulin given right away. These numbers are difficult to remember or to figure out after several days have gone by.
Your child will need help writing down these measurements at first, but as he gets older he should be able to complete his own books. You should check the book regularly to stay informed and to make sure your child is recording daily measurements properly. Record-keeping can be boring, so don’t be surprised if your child needs help from time to time.
Some glucose meters have memory to store the time and result of a given blood sugar check. As a result, it’s tempting not to record the result right away because "it’s all in the meter." This can be a problem. The meter’s memory may mean that you don’t have to download results into the logbook as often. However, the meter doesn’t replace the logbook. Without a well-kept record, it is almost impossible to recognize patterns of blood sugar levels and to make the right adjustments in a timely way.