Daily Archives: October 18, 2011

Blood Sugar Testing without the Blood?

18 Tuesday Oct 2011

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Can you imagine testing your blood sugar without pricking your finger? A recent innovation (pending approval by the FDA) says we will be able to breathe into a meter to test our blood sugar levels. Can you imagine? My fingers are so hardened from 26 years of testing that I can’t feel the soft skin on my kids faces… Could this really be a possibility, or is that going to be one of those developments that gets approved by the FDA but isn’t all it’s cracked up to be?

Check it out for yourselves:

The powerful and easy to use iglucose technology is designed to work with existing popular glucose meters already in the market and will be integrated to work in concert with a major breakthrough product in development and getting closer to coming to market from PositiveID - the company’s non-invasive (no pricks or blood required) breath-based glucose tester (glucometer) called Easy Check™. This revolutionary product will simply allow the user to blow into the device to get glucose readings. These readings could, of course, be transmitted with the iglucose system for the desired persons to read and monitor. The breath-based glucose meter is ready for pre-trial testing and is rapidly heading towards US Food and Drug Administration submission and entry into the marketplace.

Read more: San Francisco Gate

Needle Disposal

18 Tuesday Oct 2011

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I’ve been injecting myself for 26 years and I hate to admit this but I have always thrown my needles into the trash. Yikes. I remember when I was first diagnosed in 1985 I used to snap the top of the needle from the stick part of the syringe before I tossed it into the trash to prevent someone from getting pricked through the trash bag. I’m not sure when I stopped doing that, but I’ve been tossing the used syringes into the trash for a long time. And even though I wear the omnipod now, I go back and forth with injections when I need a break (or when my omnipod bills start to mount!).

It’s never too late to change, and this November, Walgreens is partnering with Complete Needle to offer free needle disposal systems during National Diabetes Awareness month:

Not only can the Complete Needle(TM) Collection & Disposal System (patent pending), developed by Sharps Compliance , offer patients a cost-effective and safe way to contain sharps, convenient pick-up and removal services are provided by the U.S. Postal Service. When full, the system can be provided to a mail carrier or a pick-up can be scheduled on request either by phone or online. Patients can obtain this collection and disposal system for their needles, syringes or other injection devices when they pick up their prescriptions at any Walgreens location. This promotion is provided through a special arrangement between Walgreens and Novo Nordisk.

“Patients who self-inject medications at home often ask our pharmacists how and where they can dispose of their needles safely,” said Suzanne Hansen, Walgreens group vice president of pharmacy operations. “This system offers customers safe and easy needle disposal, as well as an option for the eco-conscious. This is another way we’re offering support to people with chronic conditions, making it easier for them to live well, get well and stay well.”