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Hematocrit and BG measurements.

D

dreece

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I have an inherited condition where I become mildly anaemic from time to time, maybe once in a year or two. My father was the same, if he didn't keep eating the 'right' foods, he'd occasionally look pale and need iron pills. This slowly got worse with age.

My wife spotted that I was looking a bit 'peaky' the other day and sure enough, I'm looking a bit pale around the eyes when I gently pull the lower eyelid forward. I don't usually go and see the doc the last couple of decades fror this, she recommends to take some over the counter pills and go see her in a month if there is no improvement.

I don't get seriously anaemic enough to need injections, a month on pills and a bit more attention to eating the 'right' stuff does the trick - chicken livers, lean red meat etc.

I've been intentionally losing weight in recent months, living a bit more vegetarian lifestyle, so that's almost certainly what has done it.



Anyway, I understand that low hematocrit values can fool the readings on a standard BG meter, but I've not been able to find a sure answer as to which way.

If my hematocrit is low, should I I see BG readings that are falsely low, or too high? And by how much?
 
Thanks! Your google-fu is obviously better than mine, I didn't find that.

Interesting that someone has invented and patented such a device.

It looks as if a low hematocrit value (ie anaemia) may lead to a falsely high BG reading. My anaemia never gets serious, so the effect may be smaller than the ordinary error of a domesic BG meter, but I suppose in more serious cases, it could cause an insulin user to have a hypoglycemic episode as the patent states.

I did get an explanation of the inherited problem about 30 years ago, but it has gone clean out of my head now - apart from a vague memory that a lower level of a particular enzyme was at the root of it.

dave
 
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