Forearm Test Not Good for Checking Blood Sugar

nobimbo · 03-10-2005, 12:00 AM

Forearm Test Not Good for Checking Blood Sugar
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with diabetes who need to monitor their blood sugar levels should not use their forearm to get a blood sample if they think their levels are low, two teams report.

Although testing blood sugar levels using a forearm prick produces readings similar to those obtained from a fingerstick when levels are high or normal, it may overestimate blood sugar levels when they are low, according to two brief reports in the medical journal Diabetes Care.

In the first study, Dr. Shu Meguro and colleagues at Saiseikai Central Hospital in Tokyo, Japan, gave 10 healthy volunteers intravenous insulin injections to lower their blood sugar levels. Measurements were made using blood taken from the fingertip, the fleshy part of the palm, and the forearm, every five minutes for 70 minutes.

The lowest blood sugar values recorded were 37 at the fingertip, 38 at the palm, and 50 at the forearm.

"Blood measurement at the forearm should be avoided to prevent incorrect clinical decisions," Meguro's team advises. However, the palm is a suitable testing site "because it provides accurate measurements with less pain."

The second team, led by Dr. Nadine Lucidarme at the Robert Debre Teaching Hospital in Paris tested whether children preferred the palm or the forearm over the fingertip for testing blood sugar levels.

The 29 children, between 5 and 17 years old with type 1 diabetes, who were included in the study measured blood sugar four times a day in blood drawn from the fingertip and either the palm or the forearm for two weeks. Then for one month they chose whichever site they preferred.

At the end of the study period, three quarters of the kids said they preferred the alternative testing site because of easier sampling and less pain.

The testing produced similar a reading from the three sites, except during periods of low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia. When fingertip testing showed levels averaging 50, forearm testing was 11 points higher.

Lucidarme's group suggests that "alternate sites can be recommended with the caveat that forearm sampling should not be used in children with symptoms of hypoglycemia or in specific conditions carrying a high risk of hypoglycemia."

SOURCE: Diabetes Care, March 2005

celticrose · 03-10-2005, 12:24 PM

Hi all

I've been a type 2 diabetic going on 3 years now and i have never heard of using the forearm to test blood glucose levels - i've always been told to use the finger tips.

Do many of you use blood from other areas to test your sugar levels?

Take care ! Your cyster from the UK

Lin

lovelyinkedlady · 03-11-2005, 01:40 AM

oh lordy, i've found my on my finger and then on my forearm are such a difference. heck the other day i tested after coming home from the gym, on my thumb it was 220 on my index finger it was 127 major difference.

nobimbo · 03-11-2005, 07:48 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by celticrose
Hi all

I've been a type 2 diabetic going on 3 years now and i have never heard of using the forearm to test blood glucose levels - i've always been told to use the finger tips.

Do many of you use blood from other areas to test your sugar levels?

Take care ! Your cyster from the UK

Lin

There are monitors available for alternative site testing, the main benefit being less pain. If your monitor isn't specifically made for alternative site testing, you cannot use it for that. I have always used an Accucheck Advantage, which allows for only fingertip testing.

Linda

celticrose · 03-11-2005, 09:09 AM

Hi all

nobimbo I think my glucose monitor is just for finger testing too.

I have noticed that the readings for different fingers tend to fluctuate so i try to use the same finger for each reading for that day (just try to vary the actual site of puncture so im not re opening the same hole all day lol). Then the next day i use a different finger for that days readings, so the finger from the previous day has time to heal.

Take care

Lin