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The Science of Diabetes Sugar & Glucose
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Measuring blood glucose - meters One of the most important advances in diabetes care was the introduction of glucose meters so individuals could measure their own blood sugar. Meters were introduced in to clinical practice in the early 1980's and today there are many glucose meters on the market. When you do your blood sugar, you are measuring the glucose in units called milligrams per deciliter. These are metric terms of measurement. A milligram is 1/1000 of a gram. A deciliter is 1/10 of a liter. We will also count carbohydrates in grams, so it is important to have an understanding of these metric units. There are many conversion tables available to help visualize these units of measure. In the United States we measure blood sugar in milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl or mg%). In Canada and Europe, they measure sugar in millimoles per deciliter or mmol/dl. Most glucose meters can report sugar both ways and you usually set the meter to your preference. To convert mg/dl to mmol/dl, divide by 18. There are also tables to make this conversion. Finally, some meters measure the whole blood sugar and others measure plasma glucose. In a whole blood measurement, the red blood cells are included in the measurement and this dilutes the reading slightly, so whole blood sugar is lower than plasma glucose. In a plasma or serum reading, the red blood cells have been removed and therefore the reading is more concentrated and thus slightly higher. When you have a blood test and blood is drawn from a vein, the glucose reading is a plasma or serum glucose. As a general rule, the whole blood sugar is 15% lower than the plasma/serum glucose.
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