At-home testing kits offer patients some new options
This overview of some recently available OTC products marks the first time our Self Care page has focused on testing kits and accessories.
Key Points
According to FDA, home testing kits are "cost-effective, quick, and confidential." Such tests can help:
This overview of some recently available OTC products marks the first time our Self Care page has focused on testing kits and accessories. As new items appear, we will present them in future OTC columns of the Drug Topics Community Pharmacists Report e-newsletter.
Blood glucose
First marketed in the summer of 2008 and also available under various store brand names, the meters require no coding and use a small, 0.5 microliter blood-sample size. TRUE2go, "the world's smallest meter system," twists onto the top of a vial of TRUEtest strips and is ready for use.
LifeScan offers several OneTouch Brand Blood Glucose Monitoring Systems. The UltraMini fits into pocket or purse and has a 500-test memory. The Ultra2 can flag results as before- or after-meal, stores 500 tests, and sorts results into 7-, 14- and 30-day averages. The UltraSmart is both a glucose meter and electronic logbook, organizing key information into charts and graphs. Its memory stores 3,000+ records.
