5 Things You Never Knew About Diabetic Test Strips

Ready for answers to the most fascinating questions about diabetic test strips? Read on!

(And be sure to read #4…you’ll flip!)

1) Why Do Test Strips Expire?

Diabetic test strips have a fascinating amount of technology in them! Each strip includes enzymes that turn the blood into electrical current. Once converted to current, the current comes into contact with an electrical circuit in the strip and is able to be read by your meter.

Because enzymes are biological molecules, they degrade over time. Degraded enzymes prevent strips from giving an accurate reading, which is the reason that test strips expire after a period of time.

So now that you know test strips have enzymes…

2) Why Do Test Strips Have Coding Numbers?

Enzymes are a critical part of the proper functioning of test strips, and the amount of enzymes included in test strips can vary from batch to batch. For this reason, manufacturers assign a code to each batch of strips, and the code calibrates your meter to give the correct reading for the amount of enzymes in your strips.

Neat, huh? As technology improves and manufacturers find ways to keep enzymes more stable, the need for codes is going away. Some manufacturers have created strips that automatically pass the code to your meter, rather than you having to manually type it in or insert a chip.

Now surely you’ve wondered this…

3) What Does It Cost to Make a Test Strip?

Test strips are so crazy expensive, they must have gold in them! (They do actually, as you’ll read below.) So if big pharmacies sell name brand test strips for $1.40 to $1.90 (or more) per strip, how much does it actually cost manufacturers to make them?

According to David Kliff, founder of DiabeticInvestor.com, "To manufacture the most advanced test strip is no more than 15 cents per strip."

Manufacturers will argue that the high prices are defensible because of the research and development that goes into producing test strips, to say nothing of the ongoing costs of regulatory compliance. We’ll grant them that, but it still doesn’t fully explain the horrendous prices.

$0.15 or less for a strip that sells for up to $1.90?! Do you feel sick yet?

Now here comes the really bad news, but with a silver lining…

4) Are You Paying Too Much for Test Strips?

If you have ever purchased test strips out of pocket at a pharmacy, chances are you paid WAY too much for them. In fact, you may have paid as much as 64% too much. (We’re talking about paying $90-$110 for a box of 50 strips you could have purchased for $39.99!)

Like you, we at Valley Rain Medical are appalled at the high pharmacy prices of test strips. So we developed a solution! We sell overstock test strips to consumers at significantly reduced prices…up to 64% off.

Don’t ever pay too much again…visit our online store and grab your preferred brand while they’re still in stock.

Okay, now that we got that out of the way, one more fascinating question…

5) Do Test Strips Really Have Gold in Them?

The answer is yes, many of them do! An extremely thin layer of gold makes up the circuitry that allows your blood glucose levels to be read by your meter.

Not only that, but if you have a look at YouTube you can actually find videos of people who remove the gold from strips. (Before you get too excited though, it’s nearly impossible to get enough gold out to be of any real value, and it’s kind of dangerous.)

There, don’t you feel smarter about test strips now?

Before you leave, do the really smart thing and visit our store to find out just how much you could save by purchasing test strips from Valley Rain Medical.