6.8.1.2     Blood glucose from blood plasma

It is called plasma, when from a blood sample all blood components such as hematocrit, red blood cells (erythrocytes) and white blood cells (leukocytes) as well as the blood plates (thromocytes) were removed. In the medical lab this is done by a centrifugation. When a medical lab is testing the blood glucose value with high-precision meters, they do this only with blood plasma. If you have a blood glucose meter that is adjusted in plasma you can compare the results directly to the results of your medical lab.

If you have a blood glucose meter that is adjusted in whole blood you have to convert the values to compare them to the results from the medical lab (plus 12%).

 

Hint

If you want to prove the accuracy of your blood glucose meter and your doctor works together with a medical lab, take your own meter to the next blood withdrawal. Please consider that you can not compare the taking of venous blood samples from the crook of the arm to a capillary blood sample from the finger or earlap, because venous blood has in general a lower concentration of blood glucose. So if they take a capillary blood sample at your doctors office, make also a measuring (or better 2 or 3 measurements) with your own meter. These measurements can be compared to the lab results in order to find out how accurate your meter is.