With the increasing number of diabetic patients, and due to complications affecting various organs and tissues, diabetic patients are found in all departments of hospitals. Therefore, nursing staff face the challenge of monitoring patients' blood sugar levels. Choosing a suitable blood glucose meter from the numerous options available is a major concern for every head nurse.
When discussing blood glucose monitoring, blood glucose test strips are indispensable. Faced with numerous brands such as Johnson & Johnson, Roche, Abbott, and even domestic brands, we must first understand the principle behind each blood glucose meter and test strip for obtaining blood glucose values. In fact, most blood glucose test strips on the market utilize enzyme technology, which necessitates discussing glucose oxidase and glucose dehydrogenase.
Glucose oxidase has a high specificity for glucose and does not react with maltose, lactose, or galactose in the blood. However, as its name suggests, it works through "oxygen," so its reaction process is definitely affected by "oxygen." This "oxygen" includes not only oxygen in the air but also oxygen in the blood. Therefore, in some situations, it can cause measurement errors: Once opened, the test strips easily react with oxygen in the air and can generally only be used for 3 months after opening. Furthermore, they should not be stored with volatile substances such as alcohol, as this can easily cause oxidation of the test strips, affecting the accuracy of the measurement.
