May 2, 2006
Diagnosis and Symptoms, Type 2
Question from Ubud, Bali, Indonesia:
I’m a 38 year old male with a BMI of 22.3 and an average heart rate of 62 bpm. I do moderate exercise regularly, three to five times a week. Five years ago, when I took my mom to the laboratory, I had checked my fasting plasma blood sugar and it was 134 mg/dl [7.4 mmol/L]. Based on what I’ve read on the Internet, I knew that my blood sugar was not as normal as healthy people. But, because I was unemployed at that time, I didn’t go to a doctor. Recently, a laboratory test of my blood sugar was 115 mg/dl [6.4 mmol/L] fasting and 148 mg/dl [8.2 mmol/L] two hours postprandial. My A1c was 5.7%. So, should I go to the laboratory for an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT)?
I’m really scared about having diabetes. I have a family history of it. My mom had type 2 diabetes.
Answer:
As you have suggested, the first blood sugar is abnormal and in the range for a patient with diabetes. However, since the diagnosis of diabetes requires two fasting glucose levels greater than or equal to 126 mg/dl [7.0 mmol/L], you cannot be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. You can be diagnosed as having pre-diabetes. This means that you need to maintain a healthy lifestyle in order to prevent the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. Although it may be a financial hardship, I recommend you have contact with a physician so this may be followed closely. There are also options for intervention with medical therapy that have been used in clinical trials of high-risk individuals with pre-diabetes.
JTL
