Can you tell me more about the company Abbot Diabetes Care and their products of diabetes testing equipment?

Abbot Diabetes Care is committed to helping patients and hospitals manage the testing needs of diabetes patients. Abbot Diabetes Care aims to reduce the inconveniences, discomforts, and anxieties associated with these diabetes blood tests by pioneering testing technologies that are easier to use, faster to show results, and require less patient blood. Abbot Diabetes Care has been in the diabetes testing and management sector since 1996 when the Abbot parent company acquired MediSense. With the addition of TheraSense into Abbot in 2004, Abbot Diabetes Care strengthened its position of leadership in developing rapid blood glucose testing meters for patient in-home use. Today, Abbot Diabetes Care produces many blood glucose monitors for both in-home and in hospital use.

What are the different diabetes testing equipment available from Abbot Diabetes Care?

Blood glucose monitoring systems from Abbot Diabetes Care allow patients to monitor their own blood glucose levels, as well as glean insight into how different foods, activities, stresses, or medication can affect those blood glucose levels. Abbot Diabetes Care blood glucose testing systems are designed to minimize discomfort, be easy to use, and to provide fast and accurate results. The leading brands and models of blood glucose monitoring systems from Abbot Diabetes Care are:

• Abbot FreeStyle Navigator system
• Abbot FreeStyle Lite system
• Abbot FreeStyle Freedom Lite system
• Abbot Precision Xtra system

For each of their blood glucose testing and monitoring systems, Abbot Diabetes Care also produces correspondingly compatible test strips for the testing needs.

Abbot also produces diabetes testing and monitoring products such as continuous monitoring systems, insulin pumps, and insulin syringes, and diabetes data management systems.

What is the importance of diabetes testing equipment such as those from Abbot Diabetes Care?

As part of a regular healthy lifestyle in living with diabetes, monitoring one’s blood glucose level regularly goes importantly with dietary changes, lifestyle improvements, and prescription injections or medications as needed. Blood glucose levels can change significantly with eating, exercise, and or hormonal changes, it is of utmost importance to keep watch and record your blood glucose level throughout the day with diabetes testing equipment such as those from Abbot Diabetes Care. Big changes or spike in blood glucose levels can also signal a serious diabetes emergency or cause some diabetic complication. For all these reasons, it is important to be using diabetes testing equipment such as those from Abbot Diabetes Care regularly throughout the day.

In general, what are different kinds of diabetes testing products?

A single and vital task to be repeated regularly for those living with diabetes each day is testing and recording one’s blood glucose level. The most accurate piece of diabetes testing equipment for doing this measuring of blood glucose is a diabetic glucometer or accu-chek meter. These diabetic meters are much more accurate than comparing color changes on test strips. With the diabetes gluco meter, however, it also takes much more efforts to learn to use, calibrate, and maintain the diabetes testing equipment. You should also pay attention not to store your diabetes glucometer in extreme heat or cold and to maintain, calibrate, and clean it regularly in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. As a useful added benefit, many diabetic gluco meters also have software for easy transfer for blood glucose measurement to your doctor.

Another important way to test blood glucose levels is with diabetic lancets and test strips. Diabetes patients will use the lancets to prick their finger to get a drop of blood to be used on the test strips to determine glucose levels. Technological advancements have also brought forth automatic lancets which can be set to a desired length setting. Other advancements have also effected prickless testing strips for measuring blood glucose levels; these prickless testing strips will be higher in price, but can help those patients fearful or anxious about pricking their finger repeatedly.

Another very important test equipment for those living with diabetes is used to test urine for ketone levels. When urine ketone levels are tested to be high in a diabetes patient’s urine, that can indicate blood glucose level problems or fluctuations and diabetic ketoacidosis. These cases of diabetic ketoacidosis can lead to mental alertness and mind status changes or even death and thus constitutes a medical emergency. Diabetes patients should also keep in mind to avoid foods high in vitamin C or other acids before taking such an urine ketone test to avoid a false positive result.

What should I pay attention to or be aware of for diabetes testing products?

With diabetes glucometers and other electronic equipment, you should clean, maintain, and calibrate them regularly according to the instructions. With testing kits or testing strips, you should pay attention to expiration dates and effective dates. With all sensitive medical testing equipment, you should be aware not to store them in extreme heat or cold and to avoid storage with excessive moisture.

In addition to using diabetes testing equipment regularly as prescribed by the doctor, what are some lifestyle or dietary changes that can help avoid deadly or serious complications of the diabetes disease?

It is important to make positive lifestyle and dietary changes with living diabetes since diabetic complications can be quite serious such as kidney failure effecting a dependence on dialysis, peripheral nerve damage or blood circulation problems leading to a need for amputation, temporary or permanent blindness, or even death in the most serious cases.

Some of these lifestyle and dietary changes for diabetes patients include:

• Maintaining a diet with complex carbohydrates to avoid spikes and big alterations inblood glucose.
• A diet that is high in fiber and low in fat also goes along with this
• Quit or reduce smoking and lower or eliminate intake of alcohol
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Ingest enough water and liquids every day
• Maintain oral hygiene with regular brushing and flossing of teeth
• Wash, clean, and examine your arms, hands, feet, and legs every day, and pay particular attention to any blisters or sores

How do I pick the right types and brands of diabetes testing equipment for me?

First of all in the process of picking the right diabetes testing equipment, you should talk extensively with your doctor or physician and get his or her advice. Along with lifestyle and dietary changes, your physician will be able to tell you which diabetes testing equipment will be vital in your life with diabetes. Once you know what types of diabetes testing equipment you need, you should talk with friends, family, and medical supplier representatives to get their expertise, advice, experiences, and recommendations. With these steps and tips, you should be able to find and select the best types and brands of diabetes testing equipment that you need.

How do I get the best prices on diabetes testing equipment?

When you are first just buying your diabetes testing equipment, it might be a good idea to visit a brick and mortar medical supplies store so that you can see and touch the products as well as get taught how to use them properly. With these initial choosing and purchases of diabetes testing equipment, you should probably not be as concerned about price. Your other option would be to select the exact brand and type of diabetes testing equipment you want, then go shopping for the best prices online. When shopping online for diabetes testing equipment, you want to be sure to choose trusted online retailers and suppliers. This is another great time to talk to friends and family who have gone through similar experiences for their recommendations on retailers for diabetes testing equipment. Shop around at different retailers and check for great offers such as price matching, coupons, and free shipping.