Monitoring Diabetes at Home - Urine Test

Bristol Diabetes . Access . Monitoring

The urine test is quite simple and involves dipping a chemical test strip in urine or wetting the test strip in a stream of urine.

If after waiting for one or two minutes there is no colour change there is no sugar (glucose) in the urine. If there is a colour change you can match the colour of the test strip against a colour chart on the side of the box of test strips to get a reading of the blood sugar (glucose) level. Unlike blood tests this is not the blood level at the current time but shows the peak level since the bladder was last emptied.

Urine Test Colour Chart

Urine Test Strip

Click on a picture for a larger pop-up version.

Unfortunately as most Kidney's only extract sugar from the blood at moderately high blood sugar levels, the test is of limited use for anyone trying to achieve tight control.

Also the test gives no indication of low glucose levels so it is of no use to those who have Hypoglygemia (Low Blood Sugar) problems.

External Link

Diabetes UK: Balance Nov 2003