Updated

People with diabetes can check their blood sugar with a prick to their palm rather than their fingertips, which are much more sensitive to pain, say researchers.

Sherwyn Schwartz, MD, of the Diabetes and Glandular Disease Clinic in San Antonio, and colleagues presented their study in San Diego, at the American Diabetes Association’s 65th Annual Scientific Sessions.

The study included 181 people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Blood sugar samples were taken before and after a meal. Blood was drawn from the palm or fingertips. The post-meal tests spanned up to two hours for kids and four hours for adults.

The results showed that “palm testing is a suitable alternative to fingertip testing,” say the researchers.

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The palm has plenty of blood capillaries and fewer pain receptors than the fingertips. Other body parts -- such as the forearm and thigh -- have also been proposed as alternate sites. But the palm is easy to access, say Schwartz and colleagues.

People with diabetes don’t need a new meter for the palm test, says an American Diabetes Association news release.

Patients should check with their doctor before making the change, but this new approach looks promising for decreasing the pain of blood sugar checks.

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By Miranda Hitti, reviewed by Michael W. Smith, MD

SOURCES: American Diabetes Association 65th Annual Scientific Sessions, San Diego, June 10-14, 2005. News release, American Diabetes Association.