fasting blood glucose | Diabetes Healthy Solutions

What is type two diabetes?

What is type two diabetes? Type two diabetes is often classified as diabetes that needs to be controlled with insulin. For a lot of people they get the pre-conception that diabetes is diabetes and that everyone who is diabetic needs insulin but that is not the case at all.

What is type two diabetes may be insulin required but type one diabetes may be able to be controlled with medication, diet and exercise.

For many who are new to the diabetes world, they get confused on what is type two diabetes and how it works or is controlled. Type two diabetes and people who are classified as type two diabetics require a combination of things such as medication, frequent monitoring of blood glucose levels and injections of insulin in order to control their diabetes.

Type two diabetes can be started as either a type one diabetic or a full blown diabetic from the start. Typically people who first learn that they are diabetics will start out as trying to monitor their diabetes or blood glucose level and then maintain it with diet, exercise and medication but this may not always work. Many type one diabetics will not be able to maintain their blood glucose level with diet and medication alone, they will eventually go to being a full blown type two diabetic.

Some of the first warning signs and symptoms of being diabetic is frequent urination and unable to stay hydrated or get enough liquids to drink. The doctor will require you to get some blood work done as well as come in for a fasting blood glucose level which will measure your blood glucose level which will determine if you are a diabetic or not.

What is type two diabetes? Type two diabetes is diabetes that is controlled with medication, diet, exercise and insulin in order to maintain a good healthy blood glucose level.

How to test for diabetes

How to test for diabetes can occur in several different ways, the most popular is by a fasting blood glucose test that can be performed in your doctor’s office.

How to test for diabetes can be done for a variety of reasons such as if a person is expecting a baby and is experiencing signs and symptoms of diabetes or pre-diabetes then a doctor or OBGYN may request that the mother is tested for diabetes.

Other reasons that a pregnant lady could be tested for diabetes is because they are over the age of 40 and/or has a strong family history of diabetes.

How to test for diabetes can also be done through a urine sample. A fasting blood glucose test can be done by taking a urine sample to see if your glucose level falls into the category of diabetes or pre-diabetes.

If a person is diagnosed as having pre-diabetes it can often times be treated through diet and exercise. Often times by changing up a person’s diet and lowering the amount of sugar that they ingest will take care of any pre-diabetic symptoms.

If a person is diagnosed as having full blown diabetes then generally they will be asked to monitor their blood glucose level for a few days to a few weeks often times more than once a day, once in the morning fasting and once in the evening after meals have been eaten and then they will be called back into the doctors’ office for proper insulin level adjustment and medication adjustment.

How to test for diabetes is often times tested through a fasting glucose test which is performed in the doctor’s office where the patient will be required to come in fasting and then asked to drink a bottle of sugar water and then after waiting a short period of time the urine or blood will be tested for glucose levels to determine if a person is diabetic or not.

how to test for diabetes

What are acceptable blood sugar levels?

We all wonder what is an acceptable blood sugar level? Is there a right answer to this question, is there really an acceptable blood sugar level that meets everyone’s needs and criteria?

There are doctor’s all over the world and physicians who will all argue various numbers are acceptable blood sugar levels for diabetics. There are so many factors they play a vital part in people’s acceptable blood sugar level that it is hard to pinpoint one certain number that everyone can fall into or under.

Acceptable blood sugar levels are normally determined on a person’s fasting blood glucose level. The best way for a doctor or physician to determine a person’s acceptable blood sugar or average is by having them log or keep a daily journal for a certain period or length of time which will then give them an average blood glucose level in which the doctor will determine as their own personal acceptable blood sugar level.

An acceptable blood sugar level can be determined by several different factors such as a person’s age, weight, height, race, ethnic background, gender or health history. The national acceptable blood sugar level falls within a range of 78-102, below 78 is considered low and above 102-115 is considered high. The national acceptable blood sugar level has been determined by taking and comparing people’s glucose levels all over the world in order to determine an average or acceptable blood sugar level.

If your blood sugar level doesn’t fall into one of these categories then don’t sweat it or get upset because you need to remember that this is just an average based on other people and may not be an acceptable blood sugar level for yourself. Everyone has a different body type, age, height and weight so we all need to remember what may be acceptable or okay for one person may not be the same acceptable blood sugar level for yourself.

Fasting blood glucose level

Let’s face it we all hate to hear our doctor’s tell us that we need to come in for a fasting blood glucose level test. Is it because of the stuff we are required to drink or because we have to go for long periods of time without food or drink? Who knows, we just hate it.

A fasting blood glucose level test is used for many reasons such as family history and diabetes prevention. For many of us, if asked we can tell you someone in our family that we are related to who is diabetic, so by being able to monitor our fasting blood glucose level we can prevent from being diagnosed with diabetes. A fasting blood glucose level test is also performed if a patient starts having signs or symptoms related to diabetes.

A fasting blood glucose level test can be performed in several different ways such as coming into the doctor’s office first thing in the morning after you have been fasting, they will generally stick your finger, take blood or ask for a urine sample and then you may be asked to drink a bottle of basic sugar water or glucose within a certain timeframe and then have your fasting blood glucose level checked again.

Often times even during pregnancy you will be asked for a fasting blood glucose level if you fall into a certain age category, have a family history or are having signs and symptoms of diabetes. Often times when someone is having multiple births or pregnant with multiples such as twins or triplets they may be tested for fasting blood glucose level. By being able to test for diabetes during pregnancy the baby can be prevented as well from possibly having gestational diabetes later on after birth. If a woman is diagnosed as having diabetes during pregnancy she can take the precautionary measures in preventing from later having full blown diabetes.

The Normal Fasting Glucose Level

Not long ago, a normal fasting glucose level was never a chief concern for very many people, as the main health worries of the day were heart disease, cancer, and high blood pressure.

Sure there have always been diabetics, but in recent times the number of people diagnosed with diabetes has skyrocketed, even as the number of people diagnosed with heart disease, hypertension, and many forms of cancer have begun to decrease. If the current trend continues, diabetes and diabetes related issues may well become the most important health care concerns of the new millennia. This means that for a growing number of people, having a normal fasting glucose level is more important than ever.

The symptoms to watch for in cases where diabetes may be developing include increased thirst, increased hunger, increased urination, increased fatigue, blurred vision, and lightheadedness. If a person is experiencing two or more of these symptoms it may be time to schedule a test with their physician to determine if they are maintaining a normal fasting glucose level. This is especially true if there is anyone else in their family that has diabetes.

The most common glucose tolerance test is the oral glucose tolerance test, or OGTT. For the OGTT the patient is usually asked to fast for 8 to 10 hours. After the fasting blood glucose level is determined, the patient is given a solution to drink which contains a known quantity of glucose. The blood glucose of the patient is them measured at intervals to determine if their body is correctly metabolizing the glucose which has been ingested. The normal fasting glucose level is usually considered to be between 70 and 99 mg/dl and any reading outside this range may mean that more tests should be run and a possible diagnosis of diabetes.