If you’re like me, you might read the odd article/tweet by an American, citing their BG in mg/dl. It tends to be a little tricky to empathise with them when they complain of a BG of 40, or 240 – what on earth does this mean?
I found this even more tricky when I trialled the Dexcom CGMS. It was all in mg/dl so I had to get good at conversions in my head.
The simple answer? Multiply your mmol/l result (e.g 5.6) by 18 (to get 101 mg/dl). More background on the measurements here. Suffice to say the rest of the world is using mmol/l but our Yankee friends are still using the traditional mg/dl measurement.
By Nic on 14 January 2010 at 1.52 pm
Posted in General
Tagged as BG, testing
This post has 9 comments so far. Add yours here, or trackback from your own site.
Posted in General
Tagged as BG, testing
This post has 9 comments so far. Add yours here, or trackback from your own site.
9 comments have been made on this post
Sarah wrote
I got really good at dividing by 18 when I lived in the States – now I’m back in NZ and my math(s) brain has gone to seed again.
Renata Porter wrote
Yeah…we are….and I kept my kids on their US meters because if they went to school and saw a 4 on their meter, they probably would panic!! I do the conversions on a chart that I give to the Endo. I also use a converter online so when I make posts on my blog, I can put both numbers down.
I think it’s amazing how much math is involved in Diabetes management.
Nic wrote
You’re right, Renata…. I’m quite mathematically minded and even sometimes I get in a muddle (particularly when low)…. it’s mind boggling sometimes how much maths we do on a daily basis to manage our condition.
Alison wrote
Isn’t how we measure our blood sugar changing in the next 2 years? Is it changing to the USA measurement or something else?
Em wrote
I heard that HbA1c results will be changing to the US version in the next wee while, I’m sure that will cause some panic at the start!
Nic wrote
We’re not actually moving to an American system as they use HbA1c as well. Internationally everyone is moving from HbA1c to mmol/mol. I’ve just done a post on it here: http://www.beingdiabetic.co.nz/2010-01-15/the-new-hba1c/
Renata Porter wrote
Speaking of the math…you should see me on busy nights trying to add up each kids dinner and then doing their division. They never eat the same exact amounts and they are both on different carb ratios. So, when it gets hectic and they are both talking at once and I am tired, it gets confusing. Then there is always one of them that says “wait, what? I thought I ate 72 carbs and she at 60…”
Nic wrote
That is why Mums of T1s are absolute super Mums. Imagine what it’s like being Elissa Renouf! ( search her name on this blog)