The Freestyle meter is a type of blood glucose monitor created by Abbott Laboratories. A glucose meter is an essential tool for diabetics to monitor their blood glucose levels. Monitoring glucose levels is vital to determine your appropriate dosage of insulin and to assure that your diabetes is well controlled. The two newest meters created by Abbott Diabetes Care are the Freestyle Lite and the Freestyle Freedom Lite -- both offering several updated features for its patients.
Blood Sample Size
The Freestyle Lite and Freedom Lite meters do not require a large blood sample for readings -- a small drop of blood equivalent to a pinhead is all that's needed. In fact, Abbott Laboratories claims that these meters use the smallest sample size of all available glucose meters. If for some reason you do not obtain an adequate sample size, the meter allows you to add blood to the strip for up to 60 seconds after your first measurement.
Glucose Reading
Both meters take about five seconds on average to measure your glucose levels. The meters are able to register glucose readings between 20 and 500 mg per deciliter only.
Coding
The Freestyle Lite and Freedom Lite do not require any coding. This means that you do not have to manually calibrate the meter each time you take your blood glucose reading.
Display Backlight
To make viewing glucose readings easier, especially in dark conditions, the Freestyle Lite meter has a display backlight and test strip port light that can be turned on during testing. The Freestyle Freedom Lite, however, does not have this option.
Data Storage
When you have finished taking your glucose reading, the meter stores your previous glucose readings along with the date and time -- up to 400 entries. It also configures your average glucose readings for the previous seven, 14 and 30 days. This data may even be downloaded to your computer using a data cable.
Reminder Alarm
If you have difficulty remembering to take your glucose levels, the meters have an option to set reminder alarms. You may set up to four reminder alarms a day.
Test Strips
The test strips can be used interchangeably between the two meters, however they are not compatible for use with other older models of Freestyle glucose monitors. The Freestyle Lite and Freedom Lite test strips use a type of technology called glucose dehydrogenase pyrroloquinoline quinone, or GDH-PQQ for short. GDH-PQQ reacts with any type of sugar in the blood that is not glucose, such as galactose, maltose and xylose. The Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning about this type of strip because it can give inaccurately high readings to individuals taking medications or treatments containing these types of sugars. This can lead the patient to believe that their blood glucose level is high, resulting in administering more insulin than is actually required -- dangerous for diabetics as it can result in hypoglycemia, coma and perhaps death.
References
- Abbott Laboratories: Freestyle Lite Blood Glucose Monitoring System
- Abbott Laboratories: Freestyle Freedom Lite Frequently Asked Questions
- Abbott Laboratories: Comparing Freestyle Blood Meters
- Food and Drug Administration: Advice for Patients: Serious Errors with Certain Blood Glucose Monitoring Test Strips
