Diabetes

Diabetes mellitus is the impaired ability to make or use insulin, the hormone that stimulates uptake of glucose by cells. When insulin’s action is impaired, blood glucose is inappropriately high.

• Type 1 diabetes is caused by impaired insulin production.

• Type 2 diabetes is caused by resistance to the action of insulin at the cellular level.

•  Gestational diabetes occurs during pregnancy and, like type 2, reflects insulin resistance. Gestational diabetes is transient, disappearing after birth, although there is some evidence that women manifesting gestational diabetes during pregnancy are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes later in life. Infants born to mothers who have gestational diabetes are also at risk for development of diabetes.

SCREENING AND DIAGNOSTIC TESTS

In early stages, diabetes has no obvious symptoms. Glucose screening tests are needed to identify high glucose concentrations in otherwise asymptomatic people. These tests may be done using a fingerstick sample and portable glucose meter, as is typical at health fairs, or using a blood sample drawn by venipuncture and measured in a laboratory.

The guidelines for interpretation of screening tests for blood glucose are shown in the table below.  Diagnosis of diabetes is based on fasting blood glucose. Sometimes screening may be done when the person is not fasting. In such cases, interpretation is difficult; however, a non-fasting blood glucose above 200 mg/dL (11.1 mmol/L) is considered to be consistent with diabetes.

FASTING BLOOD GLUCOSE

From 70 to 99 mg/dL (3 .9 to 5 .5 mmol/L) Nondiabetic fasting glucose (normal)

From 100 to 125 mg/dL (5 .6 to 6 .9 mmol/L) Impaired fasting glucose (prediabetes)

Impaired fasting glucose (prediabetes)

126 mg/dL (7 .0 mmol/L) and above on more than  one testing occasion Diabetes

TO LEARN MORE: https://go.hotmart.com/H104086911R