Accu-Chek is a trusted brand in India for checking blood Glucose levels by individuals. It eliminates the need to go to a laboratory and give a blood sample and wait for the result.
Frequently the blood glucose levels need to be monitored about 3 or 4 times at various times, i.e., as soon as we wake up as a first thing in the morning, 1½ - 2 hrs after breakfast, after a meal and before bedtime. Often it is by a qualified diabetologist we are forced to take such readings. It is to determine the course of medication or for application of Insulin.
How to test blood glucose levels at home and avoid time-consuming, stressful and expensive visits to a lab? We buy a glucometer and test at home.
At present, the best and trusted brand is Accu-Check, a German company marketing in India. The meter and the test strips are easily available in any medical store. The purchase of meter is non-recurring and the test strips cost around Rs 15/- each, available in packs of 50 & 100s. You need to buy lancer and lancets also separately; but they are cheap. Lancer
is one time buy and the lancets(pricking thin tiny needles) are about 1½ rupees each.
Accu-Chek Active needs about 1.6µ blood sample, a small blood drop. I have found the readings to correlate with the clinical readings, i.e., the tests made in a qualified lab with a large blood sample.
However, Accu-Chek Instant S meter which is about one-third of Accu-Chek Active meter is said to be very modern and needs only ½ the sample of blood required for Active meter. The meter is costlier than the other one.
I purchased it and to my disappointment found the readings as erratic. When tested with the sample blood taken from the same finger at the same time, it is showing a variance of+10 points and in general exceeds the accurate readings of Accu-Chek Active reading by+10 to+20. Besides the variance is also not regular. It is erratic; sometimes showing+12 and other times+22 of the Accu-Check Active meter.
I advise everyone, not to buy the fancy(looking modern and very compact) Accu-Chek Instant S(touted as the latest) but trust the proved Accu-Check Active which gives blood glucose levels accurately at a cost of Rs 15/- approximately everytime.
snrao