Diabetics can now monitor blood sugar through sweat | Health & Fitness | Life | Toronto Sun

Diabetics can now monitor blood sugar through sweat Health & Fitness Life Toronto Sun: Diabetics can now monitor blood sugar through sweat

Norwegian researchers have developed a new test that checks a person's sweat to monitor blood sugar levels.

The sweat meter can be attached to a smartphone. The phone can then alert patients when their blood sugar is getting low.

It would benefit athletes or patients who don't get the usual warning symptoms, such as palpitations, sweating and intense hunger, the researchers said. Right now, the only way to check blood sugar levels is with a blood test.

The sweat meter works because a diabetic patient's sweat pattern changes when blood sugar levels are too low.

"The advantage of the sweat meter is that the patient doesn't have to prick themselves. All you need to do is paste an electrode on your skin," researcher Orjan Martinsen of the University of Oslo said in the research magazine Apollon.

Christian Tronstad, a medical technology researcher at Oslo University Hospital, said ideally, the electrode would be on the skin constantly to monitor the patient.

The Canadian Diabetes Association says more than nine million Canadians live with diabetes or prediabetes. About 10% of those have Type 1 diabetes is a contributing factor in the deaths of approximately 41,500 Canadians annually