Thursday, January 6, 2011

Do I have Diabetes?

Question:  My A1c test result is 6.4% and my fasting blood sugar level is 113.  Do these numbers sound like diabetes and if so what do I do now?

Type 2 diabetes is diagnosed when a person has 2 separate fasting blood sugar levels greater than or equal to 126 mg/dL or a random blood sugar greater than 200 mg/dL.  A1C has recently been approved as a way to diagnose diabetes as well.  Typically an A1C from 5.7-6.4% indicates prediabetes (impaired glucose tolerance or impaired fasting glucose), and an A1C of 6.5% or higher indicates type 2 diabetes. 

Your blood sugars indicate you are in the prediabetes range.

Prediabetes is essentially the early stages of type 2 Diabetes; the same dysfunctions are going on within the body and have probably been present for many years.  However, in the prediabetes stage, one has a much greater chance of halting the progression of diabetes with changes in lifestyle and/or the initiation of metformin.  Exercising regularly and eating healthy may reduce your risk of developing diabetes by up to 58%.  See results from the Diabetes Prevention Program and learn more about prediabetes at the following link:

http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/preventionprogram/

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