Blood Glucose Monitoring Vs Continuous Glucose Monitoring | FreeStyle Libre

If you have diabetes, chances are you've had to make a lot of lifestyle changes to keep your blood glucose levels in check. One of those changes may involve monitoring your blood glucose levels regularly. Regular glucose monitoring is the main way people with diabetes can monitor their condition.

By using Continuous Glucose Monitoring devices to check your glucose levels routinely, you’ll know when your glucose levels are too high or too low. Knowing your glucose levels will also help in deciding what and how much to eat, how much to exercise, and whether any medication or visits to the doctor are required.

An often-asked question about what is the difference between Blood Glucose Monitoring and Continuous Glucose Monitoring? Let's take a look at how both are different.

Blood glucose meters measure capillary blood glucose with a finger prick, whereas Continuous Glucose Monitors, like FreeStyle Libre, measure glucose levels from the interstitial fluid, which is a thin layer of fluid that surrounds the cells of the tissues below your skin, not from your blood.
With blood glucose monitoring, a lancet is inserted with pressure to reach the blood in the capillary. With Continuous Glucose Monitoring devices (CGM), the sensor uses a filament inserted just under the skin, where it floats in the interstitial fluid.

When you scan using the FreeStyle Libre, you get three different types of data: the current glucose level, the trend arrow, and the glucose graph. The trend arrows help you understand how quickly your glucose levels are changing, allowing you to act instead of reacting.
To summarize, glucose enters the blood before it enters the interstitial fluid. The difference in the timing is called the lag. Blood glucose monitoring and Continuous Glucose Monitoring don't always match. Therefore, it is important to look at all the aspects of your scan to understand your glucose levels.

Also, an important point to remember is that CGM Device is clinically proven to be accurate in adults and in children.

Now you know.

#CGM #FreeStyleLibre #MonitoringDevice