Noninvasive Blood Glucose Monitors 


       One part of controlling diabetes is to regularly monitor your own blood 
      sugar levels. The results of self-blood-sugar-monitoring allow the person 
      with diabetes and their health care providers to adjust their diabetes 
      plan as indicated. Research has shown that tightly controlling blood sugar 
      can prevent or slow down the development of problems that can happen from 
      diabetes.
      Current methods of self-blood-glucose-monitoring require a blood sample. 
      This can be painful and difficult for people with diabetes, who may need 
      to take blood samples up to four times or more per day. Therefore, 
      scientists have been trying to find new ways for people with diabetes to 
      measure their blood sugar without needing a skin puncture to get a blood 
      sample (noninvasive method).
      Before a noninvasive device is available to the public, the device must 
      pass inspection by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It is FDA's job 
      to make sure that any medical device is safe, accurate, and reliable. This 
      inspection is important because decisions, such as adjusting the amount of 
      insulin to take, will be based on the results of the device. To date, no 
      device has been approved and it will probably be at least several years 
      before one is approved.
      Some of the noninvasive ways being studied to measure glucose levels 
      include
        Shining infrared light through a person's forearm or finger. 
        Drawing glucose from the blood up through the skin using a low-level 
        electrical current. 
        Measuring glucose levels in saliva or tears. 


       
      To learn more about noninvasive blood glucose monitors, call the Consumer 
      Information Service at FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health at 
      (301) 443-4190.



      Additional Information on Noninvasive Blood Glucose Monitors 
      The National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse collects resource 
      information on diabetes for Combined Health Information Database (CHID). 
      CHID is a database produced by health-related agencies of the Federal 
      Government. This database provides titles, abstracts, and availability 
      information for health information and health education resources.
      To provide you with the most up-to-date resources, information specialists 
      at the clearinghouse created an automatic search of CHID. To obtain this 
      information you may view the results of the automatic search on 
      Noninvasive Blood Glucose Monitors.
       Or, if you wish to perform your own search of the database, you may 
      access the CHID Online web site and search CHID yourself.



      National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse
        1 Information Way
        Bethesda, MD 20892-3560
        E-mail: ndic@info.niddk.nih.gov 
      The National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse (NDIC) is a service of the 
      National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). 
      The NIDDK is part of the National Institutes of Health under the U.S. 
      Department of Health and Human Services. Established in 1978, the 
      clearinghouse provides information about diabetes to people with diabetes 
      and their families, health care professionals, and the public. NDIC 
      answers inquiries; develops, reviews, and distributes publications; and 
      works closely with professional and patient organizations and Government 
      agencies to coordinate resources about diabetes.
      Publications produced by the clearinghouse are reviewed carefully for 
      scientific accuracy, content, and readability. 
      This e-text is not copyrighted. The clearinghouse encourages users of this 
      e-pub to duplicate and distribute as many copies as desired.



      e-text posted: 17 March 1998