Diabetes ‘n Me Blog

In order to diagnose you with gestational diabetes, your healthcare provider will order a test from the lab. There are two levels of the test that can be taken – the one hour glucose tolerance test and the three hour glucose tolerance test.

The one hour test involves taking a blood sample after you have fasted and then drinking a beverage high in glucose and testing your blood again one hour later. With the three hour version, you proceed the same except the drink has a higher concentration of sugar and your blood is tested each hour for three hours instead of one. The purpose of these tests is to see how your body reacts to and process the large amount of sugar in the drinks.

The American Diabetes Association lists the following blood glucose levels that would indicate gestational diabetes is present:

* Fasting 95 mg/dl or higher
* One hour 180 mg/dl or higher
* Two hours 155 mg/dl or higher
* Three hours 140 mg/dl or higher

If any two of the above readings come back in the ranges indicated you will be diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Once you have been diagnosed, you doctor will provide you with the blood glucose guidelines that should be maintained for the optimal health of you and your baby. They are:

* First thing in the morning – below 95 mg/dl
* One hour after a meal – below 140 mg/dl
* Two hours after a meal – below 120 mg/dl

There will be occasions when your blood sugar reading is higher than the recommended range. In that case, adjust your next meal. If you had planned on having a meal that was higher in carbohydrates it should be changed so that there is more protein. Protein helps to lower your blood sugar and carbohydrates convert to sugar raising your glucose levels.

Learning to deal with diabetes is never easy. It is bad enough we have to live in a greed-based world filled with confusion, violence, media junk, and so on. Still, those with diabetes can live healthy providing they adhere to diet, medications and exercise. Diabetes is a serious condition. The disease is the mother of all disease in the world and it is a killer.

What is diabetes?
Diabetes is a disease that you can get if you do not eat right or take care of your body. Genetics play a part in diabetes as well. In fact, hereditary is a hard cause of the problem. The disease can cause blindness. The disease can lead to amputation of legs, or feet. Diabetes is a disease that when your body does not produce enough insulin to break down sugar in the bloodstream. Diabetes includes two types, yet various levels are considered. Diabetes includes Diabetes Insipidus and Mellitus.

The first diabetes is where your body is incapable of producing enough insulin to do what its supposed to do. This type of diabetes is treatable. You will need medications, exercise and strict diet to maintain your health. Diabetes Mellitus has five types. Each type results from insulin interruptions whereas the system is disrupted. The disruption causes chaos within the body’s ability to function. The body cannot act naturally and it takes insulin shots to treat this condition depending on the type.

How would I know that I have this disease called diabetes?
If you go to your doctors on a regular basis, your doctor will monitor your health. If you have family history of diabetes, let your doctor know so he/she can conduct random testing. A glucose test is necessary to find diabetes. Blood lab tests are useful also to spot diabetes.

What you should watch for?
Drinking but not filling your thirst quench. If you feel fatigue often and don’t know, then you should be tested. Diabetes, depending on the type makes a person feels weak, endure pain, lose weight, gain weight, etc. The disease is so confusing to the bodily functions that it doesn’t know the direction to head.

What can I do to help me not to get this disease?
No one has control over disease but you. If you adhere to regular checkups, the doctor can spot the disease at an early stage, which the disease then can be managed. You need to eat right and do excises daily to help maintain your weight, since diabetes takes delight in feeding the disease to the point of death.

What happens to those with diabetes?
Unfortunately, the disease is not partial. The disease targets young and old alike. Once the disease develops it puts the person at risk of blindness.

Some people lose their legs or other limbs resulting from diabetes. Most people with diabetes are at risk of kidney failure. If you already have diabetes then listen to your doctor and follow all instructions. One of the top recommendations to diabetes patients is to consume much fluids. Your body is losing fluids as diabetes drains your bodily organs of its natural elements. You will also need to avoid saturated fat foods and basic sugars. In addition, your doctor will need to test you regularly to control your illness.

You want to take care when diabetes is present since it can lead to meningitis, headaches, tachycardia, dehydration, muscle weakness, pain, and so on. In addition, you may endure blurred vision, sexual dysfunctions, slow healing, and so on. Again, diabetes is a killer; so take care of your health.

There is no known reason for what causes diabetes. There are certainly risk factors that make the likelihood of you being diagnosed with the disease higher. One of the only risk factors that you have control over is your weight. If you are obese, the single best thing you can do for your health and the prevention of diabetes is to lose weight. Even in small increments, when you shed pounds you are increasing your health benefits.

These may be easier said than done. There are new studies that are now showing that there is a genetic factor or mutation for people who are obese and have diabetes. This genetic malfunction affects how the bodies use energy and insulin – two key elements in the functioning of your body and the cause of diabetes and obesity.

The studies also state that this is not a cause and effect case. If you carry this defective gene you are not guaranteed to be obese or have diabetes. But the link is there and it can be prevented. You may have to work harder at it than others to maintain a healthy body weight and put off diabetes but it can be done. Discuss with your doctor options and ways to prevent or put-off the onset of diabetes.

The gene that researchers have discovered as a precursor to diabetes has been found in young children. It is scary to know that children in their preschool years are being diagnosed with obesity and type 2 diabetes due to genetics. But parents can reduce or prevent these things from happening by giving their children healthy lifestyle choices. Now that a DNA link has been found, the research can focus on finding a way to fix or prevent this from happening at some point in the future.