March 25, 2003
Diagnosis and Symptoms
Question from India:
My father has diabetes, and I have a problem with weight loss. Recently I went to a health fair where I had a meter blood sugar of 135 mg/dl [7.5 mmol/L] after lunch, and I was told it was borderline. An hour later, I again got myself tested with different meter, and it was 130 mg/dl [7.2 mmol/L]. I was asked to get my sugar values checked fasting and after meals. I checked the values at two labs (blood was taken in a syringe from my vein). At the first lab, my fasting blood sugar was 80 mg/dl [4.4 mmol/L]), and, after taking 100 grams of glucose it was 102 mg/dl [5.7 mmol/L]. At the second lab, my fasting blood sugar was 73 mg/dl [4.1 mmol/L]), and, after a normal breakfast with some more sugar, it was 94 mg/dl [5.7 mmol/L]. Can you throw some light on this? What is my condition?
Answer:
First of all, based on your blood sugar tests performed in the lab (both fasting and two hours after an oral glucose load), you do not have diabetes. It is also evident that your sugars go up after meals, but this is normal, and it does not appear to be above normal. Your history of diabetes in your family does put you at increased risk. I would stick with the laboratory glucose measurements when screening for diabetes since these are generally more reproducible and are the standard test.
JTL
