Diabetes365 day 6 Oct. 13th 2007 - Screening for diabetes
I went to a local health fair at our local middle school on Saturday. Among the various health-related booths I came across some women from a local hospital. They were conducting screening for diabetes and pulmonary issues.
It was early in the morning and they hadn't had any 'customers' yet for the diabetes screening. But I got talking with them and asked them how often they tested people that turned up positive for diabetes. It seems that at the larger health fairs they generally find 2 to 3 people with positive diabetes tests.
Maybe it's the continued unawareness of the dangers of diabetes. But generally when they tell someone they've tested positive for diabetes the reaction they get is a kind of 'so what?' response. They remember one man who had a blood glucose value of over 500 mg/dL (normal is around 100 mg/dL). When they advised him to go straight to the emergency room, he ignored their warning because "he didn't feel sick".
I know about the scary side effects of diabetes. And I frequently thank God that I got Type 1 diabetes and not Type 2. Because with Type 1 it's a lot harder to ignore the symptoms. For folks with Type 2 diabetes, they may not be diagnosed for a while and in the meantime the high blood sugars are damaging their bodies.
I could go on for many paragraphs. But if you're one of my frequent readers you probably already know all about the dangers of diabetes. If you're a new reader, take the time to learn the symptoms of diabetes. And if you're told you have diabetes, please take it seriously.
We'd hate to lose you.
Labels: diabetes, screenings, symptoms
posted by Bernard @ 6:30 PM
3 Comments:
I agree, more people need to be tested, but there needs to be more education about what to do after the test. Making the test more available, like at the health fair, is wonderful. What's sad is that it is so easy to be tested and yet, so many people don't/aren't...
I joined the New England group at Tu today!
Did you see the article on diabetes in today's NY Times? I don't know much yet about type 2 (I knew very little about diabetes in general before O's diagnosis) and I found the article really interesting. It basically says that people with diabetes need to be treating any high blood pressure or cholesterol that they might have, but they aren't being told this by their physicians.
Bernard,
Very good point! The most dangerous thing about Type 2 diabetes is that it is so easy to ignore. I felt normal when my blood sugar tested at 250 mg/dl at my doctor's office. I've had friend who felt normal when they tested near 400!
This is a huge part of why half of all people with Type 2 have neuropathy at the time of diagnosis and why many have early kidney changes and retinopathy too.
And it also explains why, when patients are given the usual mediocre treatment for type 2, which leaves them on ineffective oral drugs when they are running A1cs of 8%, patients don't complain. Because they feel fine--until it is way too late.
Type 1 is a vicious, horrible condition, but it does get your attention!
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