On Mon, 1 Feb 2021 15:02:01 +0000, alan_m
wrote:

On 01/02/2021 14:49, newshound wrote:

Anyone looked at that sort of monitor? Presumably for non-diabetics
absolute accuracy is less important, the interesting thing is trending
(cf heart rate monitors on fitness bands and watches).

Last year I saw an advert for one and when looking at the price and
ongoing cost my reaction was HOW MUCH! There are still consumables
with this technology.

From memory, the cost to buy was something like £400 with sensors
costing £50 a time.

Yup!

The one I use is Freestyle Libre. Each sensor is just over £50 and
only lasts 2 weeks. There's another which is even more expensive. My
GP team do supply it but only to a very, very select few because of
the cost.

Thing is, I suppose how much you want/need to monitor. The device has
a tiny needle so instead of pricking fingers x times a day you simply
apply once to the back of your arm. Recently, it seemed to me that it
was giving a slightly higher estimated reading for my HbA1c than the
one from an NHS blood test. The reader has the ability to take a blood
test strip so I purchased a small box and found that the strips read
lower than the device (which could be a good thing!).

The reader doesn't just collect your score at the moment you scan, it
also collects the previous 8 hours which you can view as a graph
although you only get numbers for the instant you scan. It's then
possible to download the data from the reader (about a months worth)
to your PC where a piece of free software gives you various
reports/"insights".