Is Your Doctor Testing Your Blood Sugar Levels at the Right Time?
What many type 2 diabetics have known for a long time has been confirmed in the March 2010 edition of the journal Diabetes Care.
The fasting blood sugar levels health care practitioners usually order to detect both pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes, really don't offer much information about the existence of these conditions.
The journal Diabetes Care reports on a study of 3,450 people suspected of being at a high risk for developing type 2 diabetes...
this study did not show that measuring fasting blood sugar levels offered a good prediction of whether pre-diabetes would turn into full-blown type 2 diabetes.
However, measuring blood glucose levels an hour after eating, was shown to be a reliable predictor of the future development of the condition.
Why is this? The reason is type 2 is not caused by a lack of insulin sensitivity...
at least not in the very early stages.
In the very early stages of type 2 diabetes, the problem is timing.
The beta cells of your pancreas make insulin and store it in tiny "packets" for use when it is required by your body.
The greatest need for insulin occurs just after food has been digested...
this is when a load of glucose enters your bloodstream.
In type 2 diabetes, the pancreas can't break open enough packets of insulin to keep up with the increase in blood glucose...
at least not right way.
By the next morning, however, it has released enough insulin to bring your blood sugar levels back down to within the normal range.
The normal range for blood glucose is approximately 72 to 108 mg/dL (4 to 6 mmol/L), That's why blood sugars soaring past 140 mg/dL (7.
7 mmol/L) an hour after eating are really the most useful predictor of the future risk of type 2 diabetes.
It is not enough just to test fasting blood sugar levels.
It is also absolutely necessary to test post-prandial or after-meal blood glucose levels.
Usually this is taken two hours after eating a meal.
There is another path to type 2 diabetes, more common in active, overweight men.
In this variation of the "packet-busting" disease, fasting blood sugars are high but post-prandial blood sugars are normal.
If your morning fasting blood sugars are 120 mg/dL (6.
7 mmol/L) or higher, you may also be on your way to full-blown type 2 diabetes.
Make sure your health care practitioner tests both your fasting and after-meal blood sugar levels.
The earlier pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes is detected, the more easily it can be reversed.
The fasting blood sugar levels health care practitioners usually order to detect both pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes, really don't offer much information about the existence of these conditions.
The journal Diabetes Care reports on a study of 3,450 people suspected of being at a high risk for developing type 2 diabetes...
this study did not show that measuring fasting blood sugar levels offered a good prediction of whether pre-diabetes would turn into full-blown type 2 diabetes.
However, measuring blood glucose levels an hour after eating, was shown to be a reliable predictor of the future development of the condition.
Why is this? The reason is type 2 is not caused by a lack of insulin sensitivity...
at least not in the very early stages.
In the very early stages of type 2 diabetes, the problem is timing.
The beta cells of your pancreas make insulin and store it in tiny "packets" for use when it is required by your body.
The greatest need for insulin occurs just after food has been digested...
this is when a load of glucose enters your bloodstream.
In type 2 diabetes, the pancreas can't break open enough packets of insulin to keep up with the increase in blood glucose...
at least not right way.
By the next morning, however, it has released enough insulin to bring your blood sugar levels back down to within the normal range.
The normal range for blood glucose is approximately 72 to 108 mg/dL (4 to 6 mmol/L), That's why blood sugars soaring past 140 mg/dL (7.
7 mmol/L) an hour after eating are really the most useful predictor of the future risk of type 2 diabetes.
It is not enough just to test fasting blood sugar levels.
It is also absolutely necessary to test post-prandial or after-meal blood glucose levels.
Usually this is taken two hours after eating a meal.
There is another path to type 2 diabetes, more common in active, overweight men.
In this variation of the "packet-busting" disease, fasting blood sugars are high but post-prandial blood sugars are normal.
If your morning fasting blood sugars are 120 mg/dL (6.
7 mmol/L) or higher, you may also be on your way to full-blown type 2 diabetes.
Make sure your health care practitioner tests both your fasting and after-meal blood sugar levels.
The earlier pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes is detected, the more easily it can be reversed.
