All Entries Tagged With: "type 2 diabetes"
I am not overweight, so why do I have diabetes?
Two things need to happen for anyone to get diabetes. If you don’t make enough insulin, then your body will not be able to keep your glucose level in the normal range.
What does it mean when my fasting blood glucose levels used to be good, and now they are higher—but I am not doing anything differently than I used to?
I often get asked to see people with diabetes because their doctor is frustrated with them and has labeled them as being “noncompliant.” Let me say right here that I hate that term and try hard never to use it. It suggests that if these people had just done what their “perfect” doctor had told them to do (and so were “compliant”), then everything would have worked out perfectly! Very often when I talk to patients, it is clear that they are doing everything as “perfectly” as they can, and just as “perfectly” as they used to. But now it doesn’t seem to be working.
What am I supposed to do with all the blood glucose information from my meter?
There are three main reasons for checking your blood glucose level. The first is to look for overall patterns of when your blood glucose is running high or low. There can be a lot of variation in the blood glucose level at a particular time of day (like first thing in the morning, for example).
How often should people with diabetes check their blood glucose?
I often hear doctors and nurses saying things like, “All diabetic patients should check their blood glucose level four times a day!” Sometimes they say “five times a day” or “seven times a day,” perhaps “twice a day if you have type 2 diabetes, and four times a day if you have type 1 diabetes.”
How often do I really need to get my eyes checked?
If you have type 2 diabetes, you should get a dilated eye examination as soon as you have been diagnosed. It is possible that your blood glucose has been above normal for several years and you did not know.
Can it be dangerous to push your HbA1c too low if you have type 2 diabetes?
Several studies have tried to answer that question. In one study, over ten thousand people with type 2 diabetes were randomly divided into two groups:
Does gastric bypass surgery cure type 2 diabetes?
If you have type 2 diabetes and are significantly overweight (with a BMI of over 40kg/m2) and have tried everything you can to change your lifestyle but without success, then gastric bypass surgery is something you should talk to your doctor about as a possibility.
Are there drugs that can prevent type 2 diabetes?
As I mentioned in answer to the last question, taking metformin also reduced the risk of getting diabetes in the DPP
What can I do to prevent my kids from getting diabetes if I have type 2 diabetes?
The main thing you can do is to advise your kids to live a healthy lifestyle.
What can I do to prevent myself from getting diabetes?
It is a tired old joke to answer this question by saying, “Choose your parents wisely!” Obviously you are stuck with who you have as parents, and so your genetic risk is already set for you.