You cannot cure your diabetes, but you can do your part to manage your type 1 or type 2 diabetes. It is imperative that you monitor your blood sugar by testing it as often as your doctor advises you to do so.People that take insulin likely need to test their blood sugar levels more often than people that do not take insulin.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains that testing your blood sugar is the most important thing that you can do to help to manage your diabetes at home. Maintaining your blood sugar level as close as possible to your target is important to delay or prevent diabetes-related complications. Your physician sets your target range based on factors such as the type of diabetes that you have, how long ago you received your diagnosis, and your age.

Are you newly diagnosed and not sure how to correctly use your blood glucose monitor? Ask your doctor to help you learn how to use it. Make sure that you have someone that can test your blood sugar for you if you become sick, or cannot perform the testing yourself for another reason.

Make sure that you keep a record of all of your blood sugar readings and take it to your doctor’s appointments. This helps the doctor to understand how you are managing your diabetes. It also lets the doctor know whether you may need to change your insulin dose or change to a different type of insulin.