=Based on his symptoms, how soon/long until this DKA happens?  Is he in
=immediate danger of a coma?  Are we talking days?  weeks?  months??  

There’s no way to tell, based on his symptoms.  He could be a Type-II diabetic,
in which case he might never reach the state of DKA.  He might be experincing
the onset of Type I, in which case, it could be a matter of days, or of years,
depending on how rapid the onset is.  Or he might not be diabetic at all.
—————————————————————————
I  try  very  hard  to say exactly what I mean.  I’d appreciate it if you’d
bear that in mind and not try to "interpret"  my  posts  to  fit  your  own
preconceived notions if I’m posting in a serious thread.  Remember:  If you
throw a strawman into a heated debate, flames are likely to be the result.

The theoretical minimum number of fingersticks/day to give a reasonable
estimate of average bg is 8.  In practice, it is somewhat higher say
10 or 12.  Blood glucose values vary significantly during the day and
it takes many tests to capture the variability.  As an extreme example,
if you take only a fasting blood sugar every day, you would be only
measuring the at the time when your bg was likely to be at its lowest.  
This would produce a very bad estimate of average bg levels.

The A1c, and the other similar tests, produce an average value for
a reasonably long period of time, a couple months.

–
Charles Coughran
ccough…@ucsd.edu

>Price:  $24.95 U.S.  plus $4 shipping and handling.

Is that a "one shot" test or is that a ‘Refillable’ test?
(and if so how much are the refills)
—
   John F Davis In Delightful Detroit, Mi.    aa…@detroit.freenet.org
         "Nothing adds excitement to your life like something
         that is clearly none of your business!"     Battista

>I was just wondering why the A1c is so important.  If you are doing
>fingersticks each day, wouldn’t you know how you are doing?

However, when you test yourself all you know is how you are at one
single point in time. You have no way of knowing whether your bgs are in
the process of going up, down or staying stable. The A1c (as I
understand it) is supposed to give you an over all average over a period
of many weeks.

As an example: you can test yourself before breakfast and have a perfect
reading  Your bgs may then do a major spike right after eating and only
drop just before lunch when you get another good reading. So, based on
the two tests you may think everything is OK, although in reality you
weren’t doing so well. Unless you want to test every hour (or more),
all day long, you won’t have the complete picture.

I’ve had A1c’s come back that were at odds with my before-meal testing.
(My doctor has compared my meter readings with his, so I know my meter
is OK).  Based on that, I’ve adjusted the ratio of Regular to NPH to
keep the spikes down.

==Sam==

Thanks,

Warren

>DSS A1C Home Collection Kit is available

>1-800-252-0207 Diabetes Support Systems.
>No more unecessary venipunctures for my 8 year old.

>"Mom"

Dear "Mom", I know you’re not trying to sell it, so can you tell us
how much it cost? Ballpark is fine. No more unnecessary venipunctures for
anyone! (Not that fingersticks don’t get old after a while.)
—
Esther A. Paris, CTM   Esther_A_Pa…@ccmail.res.ray.com
"Ask me about Toastmasters International."
Software Design & Development Engineer – Raytheon Electronic Systems
‘night elf’

> LAVW…@prodigy.com (Jeffry Ullman) wrote:

> We have been doing HA1c’s on the finger stick machines for about 3
> years–first at the UTMB clinic in Galveston, Texas and, after our
> doctor left, then at the UT/Hermann Clinic in Houston.  

Judy,
  I was a patient of Dr. Edward Bastyr at UTMB before he moved to IN
and am now looking for a new endo.  Can you recommend any in the
Houston-Galveston, Dallas, or San Antonio-Austin areas?
  Regarding the post:  the finger stick A1C tests are great!  The
labs use an HPLC machine with a column made specifically for these
tests.  Therefore, I would be very wary of any at-home type tests.
Also of importance is that different methods of A1C tests give different
results, so it is best that one be consistent with the type of test
as well as with the laboratory administering it.

Thanks in advance for any info Judy!
Kimberly Greer, kgr…@vetmed.tamu.edu

>How many of you have physicians with a fingerstick A1C machine in their
>office?

I know of only one medical type person who has such a machine……
He is a banker however (And moderator of a Diabetes forum elsewhere)

Which machine did you buy?  His is the DCA–2000 (I Think)
—
   John F Davis In Delightful Detroit, Mi.    aa…@detroit.freenet.org
         "Nothing adds excitement to your life like something
         that is clearly none of your business!"     Battista