February 9th, 2006
First-Ever Personal Cholesterol Monitor
By Alice Hill
RealTechNews
It’s a pain to get older, but luckily for those of us with some time left, there are more and more gadgets to help keep an eye on our health from the comfort of our homes. First came the digital thermometer, and then the automatic home blood pressure monitoring cuff, and of course a lot of glucose monitoring devices, like the glucose wristwatch we wrote about (and the under the skin glucose chip) but for most people simply worried about cholesterol, here’s a device that will run your numbers at home and let you keep a database of stats to share with your doctor.
As accurate as tests used by physicians and medical labs, this device quickly and easily measures total blood cholesterol. In three minutes an LCD shows results from a single drop of blood (lancet included) placed on a test strip. Unit shows average cholesterol across the last six test measurements taken. You can also download results to your PC (software and serial cable included), where you can create an entire database of cholesterol readings, and receive valuable information about your cardiovascular health. An optional Smart-Card (available below) stores up to 200 test results that can be shared with your physician. Source: Hammacher Schlemmer via Red Ferret
We Say: Put down that cheese steak sandwich and start keeping an eye on things. It may save your life, and at $129, the price is nice.
RecycledElectrons says:
THIS IS NOT THE FIRST!
I had a glucometer that also tested for Hemoblobin A1C, LDL, Total Cholesterol, and several other functions 4 years ago.
Unfortunately, the FDA was lobbied by the scum who charge $300 for a $5 A1C test to pull it from the market. The reason (get this…) was that if you stored the glucose test strips in 130 degree conditions until they were more than 1 year out of date, they might be off by more than 10%.
Andy Out!
February 9th, 2006 at 7:41 pm
Liog says:
I have an Accutrend GC cholesterol tester, the strips are not as expensive as the A1C but it is harder to get hold of them at a decent price. Just like if they wanted to take the machine off the market.
February 10th, 2006 at 7:51 am
Cheers... says:
… and why are we all reading this blog ? To get cutting edge tech news. What part of this is cutting edge I do not get it. This device is on sale for at least 4 or five years, maybe not under this brand name but home cholesterol testing devices are available from your neighborhood Walgreens, CVS or what have you.
February 10th, 2006 at 8:33 am
Alice says:
Hi “cheers” We don’t cover medical technology as a core topic, but a number of our readers have diabetes and other health issues and it doesn’t hurt to point them to gadgets on the market that can help them. Some of the info like the glucose chip and wristwatch were “cutting edge” and others are just useful to know about. Where’s the harm?
We want comments, but please use your name if you don’t mind. And if you know of other interesting medical products, then send them to us so we can help people even more.
February 10th, 2006 at 8:45 am
Robert says:
This is not meant to start nor participate in a flame war; nice, albeit polite and appropriate, slap down Alice.
February 10th, 2006 at 10:38 am