Diabetes
By nanands
@nanands (122)
India
3 responses
@dontataru (244)
• Romania
8 Jan 07
Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life. The cause of diabetes continues to be a mystery, although both genetics and environmental factors such as obesity and lack of exercise appear to play roles.
There are 20.8 million children and adults in the United States, or 7% of the population, who have diabetes. While an estimated 14.6 million have been diagnosed with diabetes, unfortunately, 6.2 million people (or nearly one-third) are unaware that they have the disease.
In order to determine whether or not a patient has pre-diabetes or diabetes, health care providers conduct a Fasting Plasma Glucose Test (FPG) or an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT). Either test can be used to diagnose pre-diabetes or diabetes. The American Diabetes Association recommends the FPG because it is easier, faster, and less expensive to perform.
With the FPG test, a fasting blood glucose level between 100 and 125 mg/dl signals pre-diabetes. A person with a fasting blood glucose level of 126 mg/dl or higher has diabetes.
In the OGTT test, a person's blood glucose level is measured after a fast and two hours after drinking a glucose-rich beverage. If the two-hour blood glucose level is between 140 and 199 mg/dl, the person tested has pre-diabetes. If the two-hour blood glucose level is at 200 mg/dl or higher, the person tested has diabetes.
@nanands (122)
• India
9 Jan 07
Thank you posting some basic information about diabetes. while this is important, living with diabetes often creates questions for diabetics for which ready made answers are not available. My attempt is to try to answer these questions.
@rsa101 (38126)
• Philippines
10 Jan 07
I was diagnosed about a couple of months ago as diabetic when i got hospitalized for having fever for days. i was thought to be having Dengue or typhoid at that time but then they diagnosed that my blood glucose level was 9 where the normal value was 3-6 something. A month after that I was tested again FBS and my Blood glucose was 4. The medication given to me was then cut to half dose. Will these medication be taken for life or is there a possibility that I could be taken off the medication?
1 person likes this
@nanands (122)
• India
10 Jan 07
During fever, surgery or other illnesses, there a good chance that your blood sugar levels will go up. This happens because the level of certain other "sugar-increasing" chemicals in the body goes up. After the illness, things return to normal. The post illness normal levels achieved by you are because of the medicines which you are taking. Stopping them will cause the blood sugar levels to go up. Unfortunately there is still no cure for diabetes and the medication which you are taking will only manage your sugar levels. Your doctor will keep adjusting your doses but you are not likely to go off medication. In some very mild cases good control over meals taken and proper exercise could lead to withdrawal of medicines by the doctor. Important thing to note is that diet and exercise are the cornerstones of diabetes management all through your life. Medicines only play a secondary role. Other thing that is important is to gain knowledge about your condition.
1 person likes this
@rsa101 (38126)
• Philippines
11 Jan 07
Thanks for that response.... I am on my diet right now and I am keeping a regular watch onmy weight right now. At my age 35 it is quite hard to believe I got the disease this early on. But then I have to follow the doctor's advice of taking my medication. Also is the liver have something to do with this disease during my hospitalization my SGOT and SGPT was also very high back then. They also diagnosed me for having small gallstones too. Whew what a life!
