Diabetes patients - wash your hands before testing!

A recent studying into the effects of testing reliability has found that the current policy of only using an alcohol swab on the finger to be tested is NOT enough to remove the residue of foods and in particular fruits from skin surface.

Testing on hands that were washed and then wiped with an alcohol swab gave more accurate results than only swabbing. Blood levels had a spike of nearly double the actual reading when the hands were not washed due to the residue of fruit sugars still left on the hands, therefore patients were inaccurately giving themselves incorrect dosages.


Source Reuters Health