Glucose Meter Accuracy: (Please Vote) Is 20% close enough for you?

Please vote in the poll below, even if only to let me know that I’m being overly anal-retentive.

I only learned recently that the industry standard level of accuracy for blood glucose meters is to be within 20% of lab results. I learned this after a doctor’s visit where I tested my blood glucose (BG) via my home blood glucose meter within a minute of my blood being drawn for lab work. I noted my BG as 82 and thought, good, right on target.

Anyway, this time, I was careful to check very close to the time that the blood was drawn and equally careful to note that particular reading. Again, my meter said 82.

My lab result was 69! This is a difference of just under 19% (((82 – 69) / 69) * 100) = 18.84%, though perhaps I should just round to 19 since I don’t really have that level of precision in the actual readings.

Artificial Pancreas with current CGM technology?

My doctor has lately been telling me that Minimed/Medtronic is going to close the loop very soon now in providing an artificial pancreas based on today’s CGM and pump technology. Given my own experience, as well as the responses I’ve gotten to my post Continuous Glucose Monitoring with Medtronic/MiniMed Updated, I find this rather difficult to believe. I’m curious whether anyone reading this blog would actually trust their lives to CGM technology telling your pump how much to pump, removing yourself from the loop. However, this peer reviewed article seems to confirm his comments.

Personally, even if I have a way to override this, I would be very uncomfortable with it. For starters, I find the device to accurately track my blood glucose about 80-90% of the time at most. Then, there’s the issue of the 15-20 minute lag. Further, I sometimes have issues with slow insulin absorption, especially during long drives. Unless they combine this with their old implantable pump technology that delivers insulin into the renal vein and unless they find a way to continuously monitor blood glucose rather than interstitial glucose, I think I’m going to have to pass on this.

Insulin Infusion Set First Day Blues?

I’m curious if anyone else is having trouble with high blood sugars on the first day of a new infusion set. I have noticed an issue with this, despite gradually increasing my fixed prime over time. I notice that on the first day of an infusion set it appears to take some time for the site to really begin to absorb the insulin.

Diabetes Tight Control

I have had Type I Diabetes since 1988. I have been pumping Humalog since 1998. My hemaglobin A1C tends to be in the 5.5 – 5.9 range. I have had A1Cs as high as 6.3 and as low as 5.4, not counting my long honeymoon period.

The reasons to maintain tight control and to improve whatever level of control each of us has have to do with the Diabetic Control and Complications Test (DCCT) that was performed years ago. That long term test of varying levels of control proved the intuitively obvious. Better control reduces diabetic complications. It also quantified it. Those in the tight control group saw a 50% reduction in all diabetic complications except one. For retinopathy the reduction was 60%. Tha’s a 60% reduction in the chances of going blind. That’s huge. It also proved that it was not a simple tight control yes or no type question but that improvements in control at all levels reduced risks of complications. So, that’s some serious incentive for maintaining the tightest control we can, whatever that is for each of us.