Balancing Your Blood Sugar by Jerry Hickey, R.Ph.
Diabetes is a vicious and life-threatening disease. It is a condition where your blood sugar is continuously and seriously elevated (and your triglycerides are also). The excess circulating blood sugar is very destructive inflaming tissues in the heart and circulation, in the eyes, brain, kidneys, and nerve tissue leading to all manner of serious and life threatening diseases.
What happens when you are diagnosed with Diabetes?
Diabetes occurs because for various reasons your cells become resistant to the effects of the hormone insulin; insulin normally stores sugar in your cells. However, long before full blown diabetes occurs, at a stage referred to as pre-diabetes, your blood sugar is already modestly increased and the beginnings of damage to your kidneys, your blood vessel walls, and to your eyes is already occurring (perhaps it should be renamed early stage diabetes); even a modest elevation in blood sugar should always be looked at seriously.
Diabetes type 2 is the more common version that occurs when the body’s cells become resistant to the effects of insulin. This results in elevated levels of sugar and triglycerides in the blood. The most common cause of type 2 diabetes is truncal obesity or having an apple shaped body instead of a pear shaped one. New evidence indicates that an increase in the circulating levels of CRP (C-reactive protein), an enzyme tied into inflammation and heart disease, is a major indicator of impending diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes refers to an autoimmune disease that attacks and destroys the insulin producing cells in the pancreas; it is much less common. People with type 1 diabetes always require insulin.
Know your test scores!
Impaired Fasting Blood Glucose
To determine your risk of developing diabetes your doctor will perform a test on your blood after you fast for 12 hours. If your blood sugar after fasting is lower than 99, you are likely okay. However, if the blood sugar is between 100 to 125 mg/dL, you have impaired fasting blood glucose and your risk of developing diabetes is increased. You are also at risk for developing cardiovascular disease. For many individuals diet, exercise, and particular nutrients are very beneficial at this point and can help restore blood sugar levels down towards normal. Some drugs are also prescribed for this effect. If your fasting blood sugar is above 125mg/dL, you are considered to have full blown diabetes and, because diabetes is a vicious disease, it must be treated aggressively.
A1C
A1C is a blood test that measures average blood glucose over the past 2 to 3 months and is the best way to measure overall glucose control. It should be measured 2 to 4 times a year and the goal is less than 7 percent.
Symptoms may include feeling tired or ill, excessive thirst, frequent urination, sudden weight loss, blurred vision, slow healing of infections, and genital itching.
For more information on how to manage diabetes or the disease in general, visit the American Diabetes Association at http://www.diabetes.org/.
