Diabetes is a problem with the blood glucose level in your body. Blood glucose is essentially the energy that we supply the body with so that it can function. This might be things you never think about, like antibodies healing cuts and bruises or it might be the energy your body uses to play a squash game.

Glucose gets into the blood from digested food. The process it uses to convert glucose to energy uses an hormone called insulin.

Insulin is produced in the pancreas. When somebody has diabetes, insulin is not produced or the insulin that is produced is ineffective. In a non-diabetic person the insulin converts glucose to glycogen, and in the process, reduces the glucose level in blood. In a diabetic this does not occur and the blood glucose level gets high.

High glucose levels in the blood can cause all sorts of problems to a persons health. In type 1 diabetes a person with high glucose level blood can get diabetic ketoacidosis that can lead to coma and death if not detected and acted upon.

Chronically high blood sugar levels can lead to heart disease, poor circulation, nerve damage, foot and eye problems and a host of other problems.

Thus high blood sugar levels can lead to acute and chronic illnesses that range from mild and irritating or critical and dangerous. Therefore it is important to check the blood glucose level because it tells you the state of your diabetes and the likelihood of complications occurring.

Monitoring your blood gives you the information you need to treat your diabetes.

Your doctor will tell you what the ideal range of glucose in your blood should be based on your particular circumstances.

General guidelines are based on just before meals and 2 hours after a meal. The range is measured in millimoles of glucose per liter of blood (mmol/l)

Before meals an ideal reading is 4-6 mmol/l , a fair reading is 6-8mmol/l and a poor reading is 8 + mmol/l.

After meals an ideal reading is up to 8mmol/l, a fair reading is up to 10 mmol/l and a poor reading is 10+ mmol/l.

With this information you can determine whether you need to take insulin, medication or some other strategy that can control the glucose level.

Testing is normally done by pricking your finger and allowing a drop of blood to fall onto a testing strip. The testing strip is then put into a blood testing monitor that will give you a reading in about 30 seconds on so.

Testing blood gives you control over diabetes and allows you to plan your day without the disease impacting on your life too much.