CURO-L7 Professional Grade Blood Cholesterol Testing with Home KIT - All-in-One Test Device, Test Strips 5ea, Lancets, and EziTube Rod Included

First of all, contrary to many reviews here, the blood sample required for this meter isn't excessive or difficult to draw. Yes, it uses substantially more than your typical glucometer, but not "spoonfuls." The key to success is to use a 21ga lancet, which are included with the meter, not the smaller 31ga types which are common with diabetics. The 21ga types look intimidating, yes, but they are only slightly more painful than smaller ones, and used properly, they will ensure that you can get an adequate sample. Place a test strip in the meter and open the door when prompted. Once you've pricked your finger and squeezed out a large blob, allow the Ezi-tube to draw the blood by capillary action -- meaning, do not squeeze the bulb to suck the blood up. The tube will draw up blood only to the black line (where you need to be), and then it will draw no more. You can have the tube in any position, but it's probably easiest to lay it on a flat surface so you can use both hands to apply the sample. Apply all of the blood on the tube to the window on the test strip. It appears to help avoid errors if you poke and prod at the window a little while you apply the sample. Then close the door and pray. Within about 30 seconds, it should start counting down from 3 minutes, after which the meter will display your results. Now, having said all of that, the meter is actually error-prone, inaccurate, and somewhat inconsistent. Out of 8 attempts, I got an E-2 (inadequate blood sample) error 4 times, despite using the proper & exact amount of blood each time. That's $40 in wasted strips. To verify accuracy, I brought the meter with me to a Quest appointment, and ran a test with it right before they drew my blood for a lipid profile. The meter read 11% lower than Quest for total cholesterol, 6% lower for HDL, a whopping 25% lower for LDL, and 13% lower for triglycerides. To verify consistency, I ran two tests back-to-back. The only significant variation was in triglycerides, which was off by 8% between the two tests. Unfortunately, monitoring triglycerides is why I bought the meter. So, in summary, a waste of money and very likely to give you inactionable results. A lipid profile from Quest is less than $30, but obviously a lot more inconvenient.

As you'll notice from my video, getting enough blood for this test is sometimes non-trivial. Its's a thirsty meter. It's also very picky (as are most of these kinds of testers) about exact ORDER of how things are done... My first test time didn't go so well... came out with Error E1, which meant wrongly inserted or bad test strip. Turned out, I should have COVER CLOSED when I inserted strip, then OPENED it to drip blood on it, then CLOSED it again. So here are the corrected steps: [ When new: prepare the meter with Date / Time / Code Strip etc ] Every other time is essentially the same step sequence: - Insert BLANK test strip, then when it says OPE: - OPEN cover door - Red light in the test strip will BLINK, meaning "drip blood here" - Lance yourself, fill TUBE with blood up to BLACK LINE (and it does take quite a bit) - Squeeze the little BULB on the tube to DRIP blood onto the red light / test strip - CLOSE cover door when it says CLO; wait THREE minutes - SEE your reading My error (resulting in wasting one of these fairly spendy test strips!!) was that I put blood on the test strip BEFORE inserting it... so I got things in the wrong order. The machine didn't like that, so it ignored that strip. No recovery; start again. Anyway... The thing does work, but I wish it would give me better results. That, I guess is up to DIET, EXERCISE and MEDS... (and in my case, a long line of heredity that lends even vegetarians like me to higher cholesterol, just based on inheritance. : ( Meter: GOOD; Results: NOT SO GOOD; My ability to follow directions: NEEDS IMPROVEMENT!

It worked as advertised when I received it 2 months ago but has not since then despite very carefully following the exact same instructions I did the 1st time. The tester gave me an E1 code for 4 of 5 test strips they sent with it, & they were nowhere near expiration. I used all the test strips (as the book suggests) & can't get any more in time for what I bought this tester for. When I called during the hours specified nobody answered the phone for days & there is no answer machine. My email was not responded to. When someone eventually answered the phone they seemed to be trying to dial out. At first they implied I did not follow the directions properly after I them very carefully following both sets of instructions the 1st time & every time since then. The test strips failed 4 out of 5 times with an E1 code Then they told me to take a video of me performing a test & seemed confused when I explained I cannot do that because I followed the instructions & used all the test strips they sent with it. They refused to send me some more test strips, & even if they did I would not get them in time for what I bought the tester for. It worked fine when I received it (the results were in the ballpark of the professional labs I got about an hour before) but all the rest of the test strips failed with an E1 code even though I very carefully followed the exact same instructions I did for the first successful test. I also tried installing new name brand batteries, reset the tester, & did the setup process all over again, but still got an E1 code followed by a tester shut down. Curofit now says I must send the tester to them for "inspection", but I told them I did not have the time left to do that before what I bought the tester for, so it is a completely useless waste of my time & money

Today I got a reading for TC, TG, and HDL, but then for the next values of LDL, LDL/HDL, TG/HDL, non-HDL the screen read as in the picture. It looks like 0 - 8 but with the bottom bar cut off. So I am not sure what it really is. There is nothing in the instruction book explaining this. This machine was working great the first few times, but now I notice that the collection tube tends to get stuck or slow in accepting the blood at the half way point. So that means it's a struggle to fill up to the fill line. I worry that if the fill process slows down too much that it might be creating a clog at the start of the collection tube. Some times there is a tiny bubble in the tube. So I just wonder if I failed to get a complete reading because of there not being enough blood? I did fill to the fill line, and when I deposited the blood on the strip, it beeped and told me to close the lid. I figured that meant it got the right amount of blood. So what is this all about? I've been trying to run hot water on my hands and swing my arms a few times prior to poking my finger in an attempt to get the blood to flow faster. Still I see the collection tube getting sort of clogged at the tip. It wastes tubes if I have start all over because a given tube won't accept enough blood. Other than that issue, I like the ease of use of the machine itself and the fact that one can get readings for TC, TG, HDL, and LDL. It feels like a good quality machine, but I feel that collection tube needs to be improved. UPDATE I have been getting the hang of it. I squeeze my finger to get a big blood drop, collect that, then keep on repeating. I notice that when I tilt the collection tube upright that's when an air bubble can form so it's best to keep it level and only tilt slightly when putting the tube at the blood drop. Once an air bubble forms there is danger of a clot forming in the tube and then it's possible that the blood gets sticky in the tube and won't come out. I wish we could by extra tubes for when mistakes happen.

Initially I was not following the startup video for blood sampling and was considering sending the unit back. Talked with a Curo agent, followed exact procedure and that changed the outcome to positive. Make sure you use their auto lance to establish fast enough blood flow for the collection tube capillary draw. Never use the bulb on the tube until ready to deposit blood drawn into test strip. Test strip needs to be mounted in place before depositing blood sample. Deposit blood sample into test strip using gentle continuous pressure on the bulb. Close the monitor lid to block light since the final measurement is photometric (monitoring color changes of three reagent spots then computes test values). I cross checked the measurements by taking a fasting sample 30 minutes before going to a hospital blood lab for a draw and complete lipid panel. The results of the CURO-7 were within 5% of the hospital. As an analytical chemist and ChemE, that is spot on. I also tried a few other kits that had much lower cost for replacement test strips. Results were all over the place. Also, could not get test to test to reproduce measurements from strip to strip. In some cases other units were +- 50%. So Curo-7 with $10/test is defined in practice as the one to use. Since I can not tolerate statins, I use plant sterols daily and Bergamot caps plus extra fiber to keep blood lipids down. Seeing total cholesterol at 185 the other day was a joy. By using clinical nutrients to help do the job, I must monitor weekly to insure that blood lipids are not trending out of bounds. Keeping a lid on sugar intake does make a difference. Again, watch their videos, follow their procedure exactly, and you should have reliable outcomes. My mistake was using a standard blood glucose lance that produced blood too slowly for the sample tube and clotting in the tube can occur invalidating that blood draw tube. Provided lance produces good blood flow so sample collection should be done in 10 seconds. This is my experience as a professional and the opinions provided are for informational purposes only. Furthermore, I have no commercial interest in this company... just looking for something that worked reliably. About to order another box of 10 test strips, the fourth box.