March 19, 2004
Diagnosis and Symptoms, Type 2
Question from North Las Vegas, Nevada, USA:
I went to see my doctor today about my cholesterol and took home a copy of my test results. I was upset to see that my fasting blood glucose is 128 mg/dl [7.1 mmol/L] with an A1c result of 6.5! And, my doctor didn’t say anything about this. I’m concerned I might have diabetes. Do my test results confirm this?
Answer:
A fasting blood glucose greater than 126 mg/dl [7.0 mmol/L] by ADA (American Diabetes Association) standards or greater than 110 mg/dl [6.1 mmol/L] by AACE (American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists) standards is cause for concern. Your A1c of 6.5 could reflect early glucose intolerance or diabetes. Given these results, I would discuss this with your physician and proceed with further testing, postprandial glucoses, to confirm that you need to begin treatment. At the very least, I would obtain a glucometer and test my glucoses several times during the day. I would also consider improving your diet.
ABS
