Diabetes Alert
Today is American Diabetes Alert Day.
There are 23.6 million children and adults in the United States, or 7.8% of the population, who have diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association.
An estimated 17.9 million have been diagnosed with diabetes. However, 5.7 million people (or nearly one quarter) are unaware that they have the disease.
Are you one of them?
To determine whether or not an individual has pre-diabetes or diabetes, health care providers conduct a Fasting Plasma Glucose Test (FPG) or an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT). The American Diabetes Association recommends the FPG test.
With the FPG test, a fasting blood glucose level between 100 and 125 mg/dl signals pre-diabetes. A fasting blood glucose level of 126 mg/dl or higher indicates diabetes.
In the OGTT test, the blood glucose level is measured after a fast and two hours after drinking a glucose-rich beverage. If the two-hour blood glucose level is between 140 and 199 mg/dl, the person tested has pre-diabetes. If the two-hour blood glucose level is at 200 mg/dl or higher, the person tested has diabetes.
Symptoms of diabetes include: urinating frequently, excessive thirst, being very hungry, unusual tiredness, unusual weight loss, blurred vision.
The American Diabetes Association encourages people to take the Diabetes Risk Test and find out if they, or their loved ones, are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. The test is available online at www.diabetes.org/alert.By the way, I am the mother of a diabetic (Type 1) and my mother had diabetes (Type 2).
