Transcript
Diabetic Breathalyzers Could Replace Finger Sticks
I'm Dr. Brian McDonough for ReachMD on what your patients are talking about. The end of finger sticks for diabetics could be insight. Breathalyzers aren't just for traffic stops anymore. New Breathalyzer technology introduced at the 2013 American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists Annual Meeting may one day eliminate the need for finger sticks for diabetics. For many of these people routine blood sugar monitoring with painful finger stick checks are a constant nuisance. The pain and inconvenience is enough to make some diabetics stop checking their blood sugar regularly, this can increase their risk of harmful long-term health effects.
The new Breathalyzer technology uses a multilayer film to detect acetone, which is exhaled by diabetics and it has been shown to correlate with blood sugar level. The next step is to compare the glucose readings, from the Breathalyzers, to that of finger sticks and blood samples. And that's what your patients are talking about. I'm Dr. Brian McDonough on ReachMD.
