Blood checks - Finger sticks - Blood Loss

scratch101 · #1 (**permalink**) 03-11-2008, 04:43 PM

Ok, need a little help here from those of you much smarter in the field of weights & measures than I....

Some of the blood glucose meters refer to the amount of blood needed as a 'speck'.... I'm not quite thrilled with that figure. I'm looking for hard numbers here. How much blood would you say is spilt by yourself when you check your sugar? I know that I at times have the almost perfect amount in order to fill the test strip, at times there WAY to much, and at times it is just not enough.

I'm wondering if there is an approximate weight or quantity of that blood?

I ask, because I was asked today. Asked more as this question: How much blood have you had to lose in checking your sugar levels in the span of your life as a diagnosed diabetic? 365 days a year, 6-8 times a day (for myself) = ???

Help!

Gary_W · #2 (**permalink**) 03-11-2008, 06:24 PM

I've just looked at the manual for the Ultrasmart (you can download it from the website as a .pdf) and it claims 'minimum 1 microlitre'. Which is 0.00001 litres. So working on minimum amounts, you'd need to do a million tests before you'd spilled a litre of blood.

According to my maths (which isn't always so good)...

If you average 7 tests a day and always manage the exact minimum amount, you would have to test every day for about 390 years to get through a litre of blood.

A litre is about 1 3/4 pints if you need to know (1 pint is 568ml (or 0.568 of a litre if you prefer).

The average human body (I am told) has well over 5 liters.

In short, don't worry about it, you can spare it. Your body is constantly making more.

Funnygrl · #3 (**permalink**) 03-11-2008, 07:48 PM

Your body has regenerated that amount of blood practically before you even finished testing.

Stuboy · #4 (**permalink**) 03-12-2008, 06:53 AM

i guess it's interesting to be able to work it out.

But it doesn't really matter? And would never be really accurate anyway? Since i dont think everyones tests the exact same amount of times every single day of the year...

solox316 · #5 (**permalink**) 03-12-2008, 03:48 PM

I love questions like this. Regardless of the fact that our body creates more, it is a cool math problem, and a cool piece of info.