Monitoring

To help manage your diabetes, you'll need to check your blood sugar level as directed by your healthcare provider. Keeping a log of your blood sugar levels will help you track your blood sugar readings.

Continuous glucose monitoring is a way to track your blood sugar round the clock.

Watch this to learn what a blood glucose meter is.

Watch this video to see what a continuous glucose monitor is.

Learn about the connection between your A1c blood test result and your risk for developing the long-term complications of diabetes.

Using your meter helps you track your blood sugar every day. But your glucose meter tells you the value at the time of testing only. You also need to know if your treatment plan is keeping you healthy over time.

Monitoring the level of sugar (glucose) in your blood is the key to controlling your diabetes. To be sure your glucose and insulin are in balance, check your blood sugar regularly. You can check your blood sugar level by using a blood glucose meter. Here's how.

Illustrations to show you how to check your blood sugar.

Here are images showing how to treat high blood sugar when you have diabetes.

The body needs glucose (a kind of sugar from food) for energy. If it doesn't get the glucose it needs, it starts burning fat. When fat is burned it produces ketones. Ketones can build up in the blood and urine. This buildup can cause a dangerous condition called ketoacidosis.

You've been told that your child has diabetes. This means that you must check their blood sugar level as directed by the healthcare provider. Read on to learn how to keep your child's blood sugar in a healthy range.

The A1C is a simple blood test. It measures your child's average blood sugar level over a period of 2 to 3 months. This is helpful because it tells how well your child's blood sugar is controlled.

Many people with diabetes who use insulin test their glucose 2 to 4 times daily. By tracking changes in the readings, you can tell when your blood glucose goes up or down.