Duo Care

Duo Care of Diabetes and Hypertension   About 73 percent of adults with diabetes also have hypertension, commonly known as high blood pressure (For more information, see this factsheet from the National Institutes of Health). So why haven’t the medical device manufacturers made something that can test our blood glucose and blood pressure in the same meter?   Now, a company new to the American market has done just that. GenExel-Sein, headquartered in South Korea, has just introduced the first combined blood glucose and wrist blood pressure monitor. They call it the Duo-Care (http://www.duo-care.com/ ).   The Food and Drug Administration approved it in January, and the first units came off the assembly line a few days ago. I got one of the first Duo-Care units.   The Duo-Care is small and easy to use. In particular, it uses tiny test strips, which, however, could actually be a problem for people with limited dexterity.   The blood glucose part of the device has good specs. It takes just five seconds and half a microliter of blood to give a test result.   The Duo-Care is more convenient to use than the Omron Hem-711AC blood pressure device, which was highly rated when I bought it several years ago. Of course, I tried to compare blood pressure results from the two devices, and they were close.   The Omron blood pressure device has a big cuff , while the Duo-Care is smaller. But Omron '   the big name in blood pressure '   also sells wrist blood pressure monitors, and I found them offered online for less than $79 including shipping.   By comparison the suggested retail price of the Duo-Care is $89.99. Since we can usually get blood glucose monitors at little or no cost, the Duo-Care is no bargain unless you want a combined device.   A spokesperson for the company told me that the have already signed up Albertsons , Walgreens.com, CVS, and other companies to sell the Duo-Care. They are meeting with Rite Aid, Wal-Mart, Target and Costco.   My biggest reservation about the Duo-Care is...