Diabetes Travel Essentials and Tips for the Approximately 21 Million Americans that Must Manage Their Diabetes While on Vacation

TAMPA, Fla., July 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Smart Meter, continues to lead the way in remote blood glucose monitoring (RBGM) because of its superior cellular-enabled iGlucose meter, robust data and ease of use that facilitates better care management. As summer travel season hits its peak, the Centers for Disease Control has some important tips to ensure you manage your diabetes while away from home.

Here are a few of the key essentials if you are traveling by air to your destination:

• Put your diabetes supplies in a carry-on bag (insulin could get too cold in your checked luggage). Think about bringing a smaller bag to have at your seat for insulin, glucose tablets, and snacks.
• Pack twice as much medicine as you think you'll need. Carry medicines in the original pharmacy bottles or ask your pharmacist to print out extra labels you can attach to plastic bags.
• Be sure to pack healthy snacks, like fruit, raw veggies, and nuts.

When you are traveling by vehicle to your destination, you should:

• Find healthy food options like:

• Fruit, nuts, sandwiches, yogurt
• Salads with chicken or fish (skip the dried fruit and croutons)
• Eggs and omelets
• Burgers with a lettuce wrap instead of a bun
• Fajitas (skip the tortillas and rice)

• Stop and get out of the car or walk up and down the aisle of the plane or train every hour or two to prevent blood clots (people with diabetes are at higher risk).
• Set an alarm on your phone for taking medicine if you're traveling across time zones

Once you reach your destination:

• Your blood sugar may be out of your target range at first, but your body should adjust in a few days. Check your blood sugar often and treat highs or lows as instructed by your doctor or diabetes educator.
• If you're going to be more active than usual, check your blood sugar before and after and adjust food and activity as needed.

One of the most important aspects of managing Type 2 diabetes is for the patient to test their blood glucose level, usually twice a day. This could be more for some patients, depending on the care plan from their physician.

In an article in Healthline, Lisa Harris, CDE, RN at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago said that many patients with type 2 diabetes would likely benefit from testing more frequently. "Testing your blood sugar can be extremely informative for people when they're trying to prevent the need for further medication, like insulin," Harris said. "Even if they're only taking metformin, seeing for themselves how certain types of foods affect their blood sugar can have the biggest impact on motivating them to make changes in their diet."

In addition, when traveling, healthy eating tends to become more difficult to regularly sustain. People will usually eat out more and have less time to plan healthy meals or have fewer healthy options from which to choose. There's also less time to ensure proper nutrition and exercise which is important for managing diabetes.

"For people with diabetes, having their blood glucose readings sent to a provider is even more important when they travel because their diet might not be as healthy, eating times and patterns may shift, and other metabolic stressors related to traveling," said Dr. Bill Lewis, a leading telehealth consultant. "The iGlucose is the perfect traveling companion for people with diabetes so their test results are still being transmitted seamlessly to their provider."

Many of today's devices for at-home remote patient monitoring (RPM) rely on Bluetooth® technology or Wi-fi paired to an app on a smartphone. These connections especially low-energy Bluetooth, can fail and may not reliably or securely deliver health data to providers.

The iGlucose from Smart Meter has proprietary cellular technology that utilizes the fast and secure 4/5G AT&T IoT network for reliable transmissions every time. With the cellular-enabled iGlucose®, the measurement is sent immediately to the patient's provider with no extra steps required by the patient.

Now serving more than 100,000 patients, Smart Meter is the leading supplier of cellular-enabled virtual care technologies that include the iGlucose^®, iBloodPressure^®, iPulseOx^®, iScale^®, and SmartRPM™ cloud platform, as well as data, and services. Smart Meter's remote patient monitoring solutions are recognized as the standard for the RPM industry and are regarded for their high patient retention and satisfaction. The unique combination of reliable health data, patient-friendly devices, and platform integrations enable and enhance RPM, CCM, Employee Wellness, Population Health, and Telehealth programs for more than 300 RPM distribution partners across the United States. For more information, visit SmartMeterRPM.com

SOURCE Smart Meter, LLC