Who Is At Risk For Type 2 Diabetes
You are at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes if you
- Are over age 45. Children, teenagers, and younger adults can get type 2 diabetes, but it is more common in middle-aged and older people.
- Have prediabetes, which means that your blood sugar is higher than normal but not high enough to be called diabetes
- Had diabetes in pregnancy or gave birth to a baby weighing 9 pounds or more.
- Have a family history of diabetes
- Are overweight or have obesity
- Are Black or African American, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian, Asian American, or Pacific Islander
- Are not physically active
- Have low HDL cholesterol and high triglycerides
- Have acanthosis nigricans – dark, thick, and velvety skin around your neck or armpits
What To Expect When Seeking A Type 2 Diabetes Screening
- 200 milligrams per deciliter or higher in two random plasma glucose tests, with symptoms
- 200 mg/dl or higher with an oral glucose tolerance test
- 126 mg/dl or higher with a fasting plasma glucose test
- Or 6.5 percent or higher with a hemoglobin A1C test on two separate days
Oral Glucose Tolerance Test
In an oral glucose tolerance test, you fast overnight, then a doctor or nurse draws blood and measures your blood sugar level. Next, you drink a liquid that contains 75 grams of glucose and tastes like a noncarbonated soda. Additional blood samples are taken one and two hours after drinking the liquid to see how much your blood sugar level has changed.
A level of 200 milligrams per deciliter or higher after 2 hours indicates you have diabetes. A level of 140 to 199 milligrams per deciliter suggests prediabetes.
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What Are The Signs And Symptoms Of Type 2 Diabetes
Canva Everyday Healthhormoneblood glucose is too high
Patients may have no symptoms when their blood sugar is only slightly elevated, says Sarah Rettinger, MD, an endocrinologist at Providence Saint Johns Health Center in Santa Monica, California. By the time patients have higher blood sugar, they may feel thirsty, hungry, and may be urinating excessively. Some patients lose weight without any change in diet and exercise.”
- Are overweight or inactive, or have obesity according to your body mass index
- Are of a certain ethnicity, including Black American, Hispanic American, Native American, Asian American, or Pacific Islander
- Are a smoker
- Have had gestational diabetes
What Is Continuous Glucose Monitoring
Advancements in technology have given us another way to monitor glucose levels. Continuous glucose monitoring uses a tiny sensor inserted under your skin. You don’t need to prick your finger. Instead, the sensor measures your glucose and can display results anytime during the day or night. Ask your healthcare provider about continuous glucose monitors to see if this is an option for you.
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What Happens During A Diabetes Test
Diabetes is usually tested by using a blood glucose test. Normally, a blood sample is taken from your vein and sent to a pathology lab for analysis.
There are different types of blood tests. You may be asked to fast overnight beforehand or you may not need to prepare. You may be asked to take an oral glucose tolerance test. For this test, you are asked to fast, have a blood sample taken, then drink a sugary drink provided for you and have another blood sample taken 2 hours later.
Duncan Prefers Not To Check His Glucose Levels Every Day The Strips Are Too Expensive And Also
Once they had got their medication right, some people stopped testing blood glucose as regularly as before. Several people admitted that they hardly ever tested their blood glucose levels and increased or lowered their insulin by physical signs such as tingling in the lips even though they knew doctors don’t recommend this.
Last reviewed March 2016.
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How Does Diabetes Affect Your Heart Eyes Feet Nerves And Kidneys
Blood vessels are located throughout our bodys tissues and organs. They surround our bodys cells, providing a transfer of oxygen, nutrients and other substances, using blood as the exchange vehicle. In simple terms, diabetes doesnt allow glucose to get into cells and it damages blood vessels in/near these organs and those that nourish nerves. If organs, nerves and tissues cant get the essentials they need to properly function, they can begin to fail.Proper function means that your hearts blood vessels, including arteries, are not damaged . In your kidneys, this means that waste products can be filtered out of your blood. In your eyes, this means that the blood vessels in your retina remain intact. In your feet and nerves, this means that nerves are nourished and that theres blood flow to your feet. Diabetes causes damage that prevents proper function.
Keeping You Safe When You Visit Us
We’re working hard to make sure our pharmacists can provide services, care and advice to you safely. Here are some of the things we’re doing to keep you safe.
We politely ask you to wear a face covering if youre using one of our pharmacy services
Our colleagues will be wearing PPE
Well be limiting the time you spend with our pharmacists in our consultation room
We’ll clean the consultation room before and after every appointment
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Can Diabetes Cause Hearing Loss
Scientists dont have firm answers yet but there appears to be a correlation between hearing loss and diabetes. According to the American Diabetes Association, a recent study found that hearing loss was twice as common in people with diabetes versus those who didnt have diabetes. Also, the rate of hearing loss in people with prediabetes was 30% higher compared with those who had normal blood glucose levels. Scientists think diabetes damages the blood vessels in the inner ear, but more research is needed.
Getting A Second Opinion
You should always feel free to get a second opinion if you have any concerns or doubts about your diagnosis.
If you change doctors, youll want to ask for new tests. Different doctors offices use different laboratories to process samples. The NIDDK says it can be misleading to compare results from different labs. Remember that your doctor will need to repeat any test to confirm your diagnosis.
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Having Your Doctor Test You
Principles To Assess The Value Of Screening For Type 2 Diabetes
There is a major distinction between diagnostic testing and screening. When an individual exhibits symptoms or signs of the disease, diagnostic tests are performed, and such tests do not represent screening. The purpose of screening is to identify asymptomatic individuals who are likely to have diabetes. Separate diagnostic tests using standard criteria are required after positive screening tests to establish a definitive diagnosis.
Generally, screening in asymptomatic populations is appropriate when seven conditions are met: 1) the disease represents an important health problem that imposes a significant burden on the population 2) the natural history of the disease is understood 3) there is a recognizable preclinical stage during which the disease can be diagnosed 4) tests are available that can detect the preclinical stage of the disease, and the tests are acceptable and reliable 5) treatment after early detection yields benefits superior to those obtained when treatment is delayed 6) the costs of case finding and treatment are reasonable and are balanced in relation to health expenditures as a whole, and facilities and resources are available to treat newly diagnosed cases and 7) screening will be a systematic ongoing process and not merely an isolated one-time effort.
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Type 2 Diabetes Prevention
Adopting a healthy lifestyle can help you lower your risk of diabetes.
- Lose weight. Dropping just 7% to 10% of your weight can cut your risk of type 2 diabetes in half.
- Get active. Thirty minutes of brisk walking a day will cut your risk by almost a third.
- Eat right. Avoid highly processed carbs, sugary drinks, and trans and saturated fats. Limit red and processed meats.
- Quit smoking. Work with your doctor to keep from gaining weight after you quit, so you don’t create one problem by solving another.
How Is Type 2 Diabetes Diagnosed
Your health care provider will use blood tests to diagnose type 2 diabetes. The blood tests include
- A1C test, which measures your average blood sugar level over the past 3 months
- Fasting plasma glucose test, which measures your current blood sugar level. You need to fast for at least 8 hours before the test.
- Random plasma glucose test, which measures your current blood sugar level. This test is used when you have diabetes symptoms and the provider does not want to wait for you to fast before having the test.
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What Are The Symptoms Of Diabetes
Symptoms of diabetes include:
- In women: Dry and itchy skin, and frequent yeast infections or urinary tract infections.
- In men: Decreased sex drive, erectile dysfunction, decreased muscle strength.
Type 1 diabetes symptoms: Symptoms can develop quickly over a few weeks or months. Symptoms begin when youre young as a child, teen or young adult. Additional symptoms include nausea, vomiting or stomach pains and yeast infections or urinary tract infections.
Type 2 diabetes and prediabetes symptoms: You may not have any symptoms at all or may not notice them since they develop slowly over several years. Symptoms usually begin to develop when youre an adult, but prediabetes and Type 2 diabetes is on the rise in all age groups.
Gestational diabetes: You typically will not notice symptoms. Your obstetrician will test you for gestational diabetes between 24 and 28 weeks of your pregnancy.
Why Is My Blood Glucose Level High How Does This Happen
The process of digestion includes breaking down the food you eat into various different nutrient sources. When you eat carbohydrates , your body breaks this down into sugar . When glucose is in your bloodstream, it needs help a “key” to get into its final destination where it’s used, which is inside your body’s cells . This help or “key” is insulin.
Insulin is a hormone made by your pancreas, an organ located behind your stomach. Your pancreas releases insulin into your bloodstream. Insulin acts as the key that unlocks the cell wall door, which allows glucose to enter your bodys cells. Glucose provides the fuel or energy tissues and organs need to properly function.
If you have diabetes:
- Your pancreas doesnt make any insulin or enough insulin.
- Your pancreas makes insulin but your bodys cells dont respond to it and cant use it as it normally should.
If glucose cant get into your bodys cells, it stays in your bloodstream and your blood glucose level rises.
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Here Are A Few Pointers To Help You Understand The Signs And Symptoms Of Diabetes
This isn’t a disease instead, it’s a flaw. The quantity of glucose in the blood may rise if the pancreas’ beta cells cannot release insulin. In English, we call this ‘diabetes.’ According to studies, the condition affects 55-year-olds in other nations and 40-year-olds in India.
Diabetes acts as a portal into the body, allowing many diseases to enter. There is a long list of diseases such as heart disease, kidney disease, stroke, etc. Is it possible to entirely cure diabetes? Cannot. It can, however, be maintained under control. As a result, one’s health is preserved. Here’s what diabetes is, how it’s caused, which foods to avoid.
At The Doctors Office
Your doctor will provide instructions on how to give the sample and where to leave it when youre done. In general, this is what can be expected during an office urine test:
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Type 2 Diabetes Symptoms Common In Men
Type 2 diabetes symptoms are generally the same for men and women, but urological problems such as erectile dysfunction the inability to achieve or maintain an erection are associated only with men.
Previous research suggests men with diabetes are up to three times more likely to develop ED than those who do not have the disease.
How Do You Know If You Have Type 2 Diabetes Symptoms Take This Test And Find Out
Nearly 1/3 of us will have to face diabetes at one point in our life. When? Well, thats the tricky part. Pre-diabetes means youre at risk for diabetes, you might have it and not even know it.
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1 in 33 Canadians has type 2 diabetes and doesnt know it. Thats 1 million Canadians with untreated type 2 diabetes symptoms.
Look around your workplace. Thats 1, 2, 3, or 5 people in your office that dont know their health is at risk. They have no idea they have type 2 diabetes.
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Diagnosed With Diabetes What Next
Being told you have diabetes or prediabetes will probably come as a shock. Being diagnosed with a long-term condition feels different for everyone. You might not know how to cope or what to do next. But if you get the right treatment and support, you can manage it and live well with diabetes.
Its usually quite difficult to take everything in and remember it. So think about asking a family member or friend to go along with you to meet your healthcare team and make a note of any questions you might have.
Often, your GP will start speaking to you about treatment and the steps you can take to start managing diabetes effectively. Theyll probably want to discuss your lifestyle habits, including what you eat and what exercise you do. Its important to consider whether you smoke and the amount of alcohol you drink as well. Knowing all this vital information can help them identify what steps need to be taken by you to live with diabetes safely.
How Do You Prepare For A Urine Test
Before your test, make sure to drink enough water so you can provide an adequate sample of urine. Be sure to tell your doctor about any medications or supplements youre taking, as these may affect the results.
Urine can easily be contaminated by bacteria and cells. You should cleanse your genital area with water before providing a sample of urine.
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Why Check Blood Sugar Levels
If you take certain medication, like insulin or sulphonylureas, checking your blood sugars is a vital part of living with diabetes. It can help you work out when you need to take more medication, when you need to eat something or for when you want to get up and move around more.
Routine checks can help you know when you might be starting to go too low or too high . Its a way of getting to know your body and how it works. It can help you and your healthcare team spot patterns too. Do you write your results down? You might find that helpful.
But importantly, it will help you stay healthy and prevent serious diabetes complications now and in the future. By complications, we mean serious problems in places like your feet and your eyes. This happens because too much sugar in the blood damages your blood vessels, making it harder for blood to flow around your body. This can lead to very serious problems like sight loss and needing an amputation.
The higher your blood sugar levels are and the longer theyre high for, the more at risk you are.