Simple kits to test your blood sugar at home

WHETHER you’re checking your blood sugar levels for the first time or have already been diagnosed with Type 2, here are five of the latest DIY tests.

MEDISANA GLUCODOCK BLOOD SUGAR METER, €98.49, available from Boots.ie

GlucoDock transforms your smartphone or tablet instantaneously into a blood sugar measuring device with results in less than five seconds. Smaller than a matchbox, it fits in every pocket.

TEE2, free from spirit-healthcare.co.uk, or call 044 800 881 5423.

THIS is a pin-prick blood-test kit. Using the lancet provided, you take a blood sample and put it on a strip, then feed the strip into the monitor to get a reading. A figure will appear on the screen.

The kit is simple to use, gives results in just five seconds and stores up to 500 readings so you can track your results. Replacement strips cost around €10.26 for 50.

Accu-Chek Mobile all-in-one system, €44.99 for device, €44.99 for testing cassette (a cartridge with tape for 50 tests) plus €7.99 for lancets, available from Boots.ie and other pharmacies.

AN all- i n- one device that integrates a finger prick lancet, a cassette with testing tape and a monitor to give you a reading. You open the cover, prick your finger on the lancing device to get a drop of blood and apply the drop on to the tape in the testing cassette — your blood sugar reading appears as a figure on the screen within seconds.

Other, more basic devices, require separate lancets and test papers, but this one doesn’t — a strong selling point as it can be used out and about.

iHealth Align, €23.75 for device, €25.15 for 50 test trips, from www. amazon.co.uk. Also available direct from the manufacturer www.ihealthlabs.eu/

THIS small monitor (left) comes with a smartphone app that you can use to track your readings and see if your blood sugar is controlled or on the rise. Using the lancet provided, you prick your finger then place the blood on the test strip paper and feed it into the monitor; within seconds your blood sugar reading appears.

The monitor can be plugged directly into a smartphone or a tablet through the headphone jack, and instantly uploads the blood sugar information to the iHealth Gluco-Smart app (free from the Apple App Store and Google Play) so you can create a graph to track levels over time.

FreeStyle Libre Flash Glucose Monitor, €212, from freestylelibre.co.uk

THE kit consists of a waterproof sensor, about the size of a two euro coin, which you wear on your arm. The sensor continuously monitors the glucose levels in the fluid under the skin.

To take a reading, you pass the ‘reader’ device, which comes with the kit, over the sensor, and the result will appear on the screen. It is for designed for diabetics who take insulin.