Diabetes is a growing problem, and every doctor suggests that diabetic patients should keep a regular check on their blood sugar levels if they want to keep their diabetes under control. For this purpose, diabetes tests are very important. With technology advancing so fast, keeping a check on sugar levels has become easier than before because of electronic devices that are available in the market.

When should you conduct a test to check the levels of your blood sugar?

• If the patient has type 1 diabetes, then the doctor usually advises the patient to test their blood sugar at least five to seven times a day. The doctor will direct the exact time of testing. Most doctors advise testing before and after meals, before and after exercise and other day-to-day activities to check the effect of these activities the blood sugar level. Self-diabetes tests come to the rescue when you have to test glucose levels many times daily.
• Patients who are administered insulin for treating their type 2 diabetes are usually advised by the doctors to undertake diabetes tests at least twice a day or even more depending upon several other factors. The time of testing is usually similar to type 1 diabetes, that is, before and after meals and sometimes even before going to bed. But sometimes patients can keep their type 2 diabetes under control without the use of insulin-based medications. For such patients, frequent checking of blood sugar is not always required.
• Apart from these two types, the frequency of testing blood sugar also depends on the severity of the condition and the age of the patient.
• For women who have gestational diabetes, diabetes tests follow a different pattern and usually vary from patient to patient although checking the blood sugar levels before and after meals is something that remains common to all form of diabetes.