March 9, 2001
Diagnosis and Symptoms
Question from Oxford Mills, Ontario, Canada:
My 76 year old mother has just recently been diagnosed with diabetes with a blood sugar of 32 mmol/L [576 mg/dl]. She was overweight and had classic symptoms of diabetes which she did not tell anyone about, including her doctor. She lost 30 pounds without trying. She has other medical problems including hypoglycemia, which she didn’t mention to her doctor either. Since she goes to the doctor quite regularly, I don’t know why he didn’t notice her weight loss. Is it possible that all of her blood/urine tests over the year could be normal, until now?
Answer:
It is not likely that your mother had completely normal blood and urine tests over the past year before her diabetes was diagnosed, since she was having symptoms of high glucose, including a weight loss of 30 pounds. However, she may have had glucose levels that were not nearly as high as the level was when the diagnosis was made, as sometimes illness or dehydration can cause the level to rise rapidly. I hope that she is doing better now that her diabetes is being treated.
ML
