Ascensia Contour Meter

Did you know that many Emergency Services Departments around the country use the Ascensia Contour Meter in their diabetes emergency treatment protocols? Paramedics carry the glucometer and test strips in their gear, and they are trained and tested on their use.

That's the same meter that tens of thousands of Diabetes Care Club members use every day.


This blog is associated with Simplex MD (simplexmd.com) and the Diabetes Care Club (diabetescareclub.com), sponsored by Simplex Healthcare.

Getting that diagnosis can be pretty intimidating. When you begin looking for diabetic medical supplies, be assured that Simplex Healthcare is looking out for you. We try to focus the new patient on some of the newer meters (like the Ascensia Contour meter) and some of the newer technologies.

One of the big developments in diabetes testing is no-coding technology. With older meters whenever you received a new supply of test strips, you'd have to punch a code into the meter to properly calibrate it for that batch of test strips. Statistics show that one in six people code their meters wrong or don't code them at all.

Simplex Healthcare believes that getting no-code technology into the hands of our patients through the Diabetes Care Club makes it a better experience.


This blog is associated with Simplex MD (simplexmd.com) and the Diabetes Care Club (diabetescareclub.com), sponsored by Simplex Healthcare.

Important Notice: Information provided is for general background purposes and is not intended as a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment by a trained professional. You should always consult your physician about any health care questions you may have, especially before trying a new medication, diet, fitness program, or approach to health care issues.

Just a reminder that when using your Ascensia Contour meter, blood glucose values will vary depending on food intake, medication dosages, health, stress or exercise. Consult your healthcare profesional for the target value that is appropriate for you.

According to the manufacturer of the Contour meter, standard medical practice goals for a typical non-pregnant individual with diabetes are:

• Before a meal glucose: 90 to 130 mg/dL
• 2 hours after a meal: less than 180 mg/dL

If your test result is below 50 mg/dL, above 250 mg/dL or you se "LO" or "HI" on the meter display, call your physician or healthcare professional immediately DO NOT change your medication based on Ascensia Contour blood glucose results without the advice of your physicial or healthcare professional.


This blog is associated with Simplex MD (simplexmd.com) and the Diabetes Care Club (diabetescareclub.com), sponsored by Simplex Healthcare.

Important Notice: Information provided is for general background purposes and is not intended as a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment by a trained professional. You should always consult your physician about any health care questions you may have, especially before trying a new medication, diet, fitness program, or approach to health care issues.
 

Are you taking full advantage of the features of your Ascensia Contour meter?

You can transfer results from your meter to a computer where they can be summarized in a report with graphs and tables. What a great way to track your progress.

To make use of this feature, you need Bayer diabetes management software and a Bayer data cable ... the meter has not been tested or certified for use with any other diabetes management software.

For more information, you can call the customer service department at Bayer Diabetes (800-348-8100) or visit the website at www.bayerdiabetes.com/us/contactUs/forms/customer_care.asp.


This blog is associated with Simplex MD (simplexmd.com) and the Diabetes Care Club (diabetescareclub.com), sponsored by Simplex Healthcare.

Important Notice: Information provided is for general background purposes and is not intended as a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment by a trained professional. You should always consult your physician about any health care questions you may have, especially before trying a new medication, diet, fitness program, or approach to health care issues.

It's pretty common in sports to talk about the need to "get back to basics" or "review the fundamentals." So it's probably wise to review how to care for your Ascensia Contour meter ... even if you've been using it for a while.

The manufacturer recommends that you:

• store the meter in its carrying case whenever possible
• wash and dry your hands thoroughly before handling to keep the meter free of oils and other contaminants
• handle the meter carefully to avoid damaging the electronics or causing other malfunctions ... did you know that if you allow solution to drip into the test strip port or around the buttons, you could cause a malfunction?
• avoid exposing the meter and test strip to excessive conditions ... humidity, heat, cold, dust or dirt
• clean the exterior with a moist (not wet) lint-free tissue with a mild detergent or disinfectant solution (such as 1 part bleach mixed with 9 parts water); wipe dry with a lint-free tissue

Done and done.


This blog is associated with Simplex MD (simplexmd.com) and the Diabetes Care Club (diabetescareclub.com), sponsored by Simplex Healthcare.

Important Notice: Information provided is for general background purposes and is not intended as a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment by a trained professional. You should always consult your physician about any health care questions you may have, especially before trying a new medication, diet, fitness program, or approach to health care issues.

Your Ascensia Contour meter has been designed to make accuracy automatic. And it is the first and only system that automatically corrects for common variables that affect accuracy.

Unlike the meters that need to be manually coded in order to obtain accurate results, CONTOUR ® and BREEZE ® 2 meters provide No Coding™ technology. This means that these meters automatically set the correct code any time a Bayer test strip is inserted - so there are fewer steps and less chance for inaccurate results.

How great is that!


This blog is associated with Simplex MD (simplexmd.com) and the Diabetes Care Club (diabetescareclub.com), sponsored by Simplex Healthcare.

Important Notice: Information provided is for general background purposes and is not intended as a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment by a trained professional. You should always consult your physician about any health care questions you may have, especially before trying a new medication, diet, fitness program, or approach to health care issues.

Do you ever wonder how people in the diabetes community lived before they had self management tools like Ascensia Contour monitors, Optium strips, modified diabetes recipes and the like?

Translated from ancient Greek, diabetes mellitus means 'honey sweet flow,' and stems from a time when tasting a patient's urine was still part of the physician's diagnostic repertoire. By the sweet taste of the urine, diabetes mellitus could be distinguished from diabetes insipidus, another disease with increased urinary output.

Diabetes mellitus appears to have been a death sentence in the ancient era. Hippocrates makes no mention of it, which may indicate that he felt the disease was incurable. The Greek physician Aretaeus did attempt to treat it, but could not give a good prognosis; he commented that "life (with diabetes) is short, disgusting and painful." The Indian Sushruta (written around 100 AD) identified diabetes and further identified it with obesity and sedentary lifestyle, advising exercises to help "cure" it.

The 20th Century was a time of scientific enlightenment in diabetes research, including a number of Nobel Prizes in medicine. The turning point came in 1921, when Sir Frederick Grant Banting and Charles Herbert Best demonstrated that they could reverse induced diabetes in dogs by giving them an extract (insulin) from the pancreatic islets of Langerhans of healthy dogs.

Banting, Best and colleagues went on to purify the hormone insulin from bovine pancreases at the University of Toronto, leading to the availability of an effective treatment -- insulin injections. The first patient was treated in 1922. For this achievement, Banting and laboratory director MacLeod received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1923 and shared their prize money with others on the team.

In an unprecedented gesture of generosity to humankind, Banting and Best made the patent available without charge and did not attempt to control commercial production. Insulin production and therapy rapidly spread around the world, largely as a result of this decision. Banting is honored by World Diabetes Day, which is held on his birthday, November 14.

In 1980, U.S. biotech company Genentech developed human insulin. The insulin is isolated from genetically altered bacteria (the bacteria contain the human gene for synthesizing human insulin), which produce large quantities of insulin. Scientists then purify the insulin and distribute it to pharmacies for use by diabetes patients. (The illustration above shows the scientific structure of insulin.)

And each year, our knowledge and diabetes self management knowledge and capabilities grow through further discoveries and vastly improved testing technologies.


This blog is associated with Simplex MD (simplexmd.com) and the Diabetes Care Club (diabetescareclub.com), sponsored by Simplex Healthcare.

Lots of people use the Ascensia Contour meter ... sometimes several times a day. But did you ever wonder what your Optium strips actually do ... or why you need a new one every time you test?

I was curious, so I looked it up. Most of what I found is pretty technical, but basically diabetes test strips contain chemicals that react with glucose in the drop of blood that is used for measurement. One test, one fresh test strip. Today's diabetics can count themselves fortunate that the newer glucose meters require less blood for the Optium strips to react with. That means a lot fewer unproductive pricks!

This blog is associated with Simplex MD (simplexmd.com) and the Diabetes Care Club (diabetescareclub.com), sponsored by Simplex Healthcare.


Please note: Information provided is for general background purposes and is not intended as a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment by a trained professional. You should always consult your physician about any health care questions you may have, especially before trying a new medication, diet, fitness program, or approach to health care issues.

It's easier than ever to find a blood glucose monitor that works for you and your specific situation. One of the best things about current diabetes testing supplies is the wide array to choose from. Some of the newer models check your blood and give you an answer in as quickly as 4 to 10 seconds. Some are also easier to use than others -- the Ascensia Contour Meter, for example, is the first and only system that automatically corrects for common variables that affect accuracy.

Accuracy is no longer much of an issue because the blood glucose meters on the market today all have a fairly high degree of accuracy when used properly. Still, you need to calibrate the meter once in a while, as the age of the monitor will affect accuracy. A good way to test your meter is to take a reading at the same time you are having blood drawn and then compare the results. 


This blog is associated with Simplex MD (simplexmd.com) and the Diabetes Care Club (diabetescareclub.com), sponsored by Simplex Healthcare.

Important Notice: Information provided is for general background purposes and is not intended as a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment by a trained professional. You should always consult your physician about any health care questions you may have, especially before trying a new medication, diet, fitness program, or approach to health care issues.