What is a fasting blood sugar level for a diabetic? There are two systems for measuring plasma glucose. In the USA, it is 125 mg/dL; and in most of the rest of the world 6.9 mmol/L.
However new research is saying these figures should not be taken too literally. There are other factors that can swing one from vulnerable to the full-blown disease within a few short years. Lower down on this page we will consider them.
Scientists may use the term fasting "plasma" glucose (FPG); don't fuss over the distinction.
1. Fasting finger prick test
This method has been used for the longest and continues to be a favourite because it is inexpensive and readily available; particularly as one of your family or neighbours is likely to have a glucometer. Nearly 50% of the people living on your street are likely to be prediabetic or have the full-blown disease if they are consuming typical grocery store food.
So everyone should have the test first thing in the morning; before that cup of tea or coffee. Keep a record and repeat it every year; it's cheap.
125mg/dL and 6.9 mmol/L are the generally accepted cutoff figures; above that you have diabetes.
2. 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test
A 75-g oral dose of glucose is given, about 15tsp and the blood sugar level is measured after two hours. Above 200 mg/dL (11.1 mmol/L) is classified as diabetes.
The downside of this test is that 15tsp of glucose is a very large dose to give a diabetic; it is likely to affect the patient adversely.
3. 1-hour oral glucose tolerance test
Other expert panels recommend a 1-hour test after the 75 gram oral dose of glucose.
4. HbA1c test
Hb stands for haemoglobin. Oxygen in the blood attaches to red blood corpuscles. The average over the lifespan of a RBC can be measured. This is a more expensive test but not overly so; but it is unaffected by other factors such as what you have eaten lately, whether you have recently been ill or have just gone for a long walk. It is not necessary to fast.
Glucose saturation in the A1c above 6.5% is the criterion for diabetes.
An A1c less than 5.5% is considered normal.
On average prior to the onset of the diabetes pandemic around 1990, roughly 10% of people aged 40 in the USA with a normal Fasting Blood Glucose would progress to within about a decade to the full-blown disease.
This pandemic started after 20 years as an unintended consequences of the McGovern select senate committee on nutrition recommending in 1977 that Americans change their diet; much less fat and far more carbohydrates.
However after 1990 this figure increased dramatically each year by up to 8% annual percentage change[1]. That dramatic annual rise in the prevalence of diabetes has since plateaued but the overall burden of the disease remains high.
Older obese men are particularly at risk.
Researchers publishing in the Journal of the American Medical Association[2] found that older people, males and those with abnormal BMI were all at risk of a faster than expected 10-year progression to type 2 diabetes.
For example those over 60-years of age had double the risk.
Men had a 1.3 times increased risk.
Those with a fasting blood
glucose of 120 to 125 had a 12 times increased risk of progression to
full blown diabetes within 10 years.
A normal is considered 18.5 to 25.
The risk of rapid progression to diabetes as compared to the norm was increased in those both with a low BMI of less than 18.5 but even more so in those who are obese.
For example those with a BMI of 30 to 35 had double the risk.
If you follow the literature as I do, you will soon notice that all the emphasis currently is on early detection and diagnosis of disease. Little weight is being place one prevention being better than a cure; there's no money to be made out of healthy people.
It is estimated that nearly 50% of those enjoying typical grocery store food are prediabetic; and another fifty percent of those with the full blown disease are undiagnosed and have no clue that the Sword of Damocles hangs over their heads.
Walking after a starchy meal reduces blood glucose; this is particularly true after supper at night. Instead those plasma sugars are turned into glycogen.
What is a fasting blood sugar level for a diabetic? Above 125mg/dL and 6.9 mmol/L means you officially are diabetic. Small lifestyle changes can dramatically change your prospects. First drastically reducing all refined carbs and secondly walking daily, particularly after starchy meals.
Discover those foods that bring satiety. Forget going on diets; they don't work mostly because they are not sustainable.
Astonishingly the research shows that artificial sweeteners cause weight gain.
Simply accept that you must pull the sweet tooth if you want to escape the ravages of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Unheated natural honey is a realistic alternative.
Bernard Preston was an elderly male with a marginally raised BMI; he discovered to his shock that he was prediabetic. Eschewing refined carbs and sugar completely he lost 11kg; he started walking half a mile after dinner each night. His HbA1c is now completely normal at 5.5%.
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