diabetes | The Hormonal Endocrinologist

The best way to know if you have diabetes mellitus is to have yourself screened by doing a FASTING BLOOD GLUCOSE (FBS) test. It is also called the FASTING PLASMA GLUCOSE (FPG) test. To prepare, do not eat or drink anything except water for 8 to 10 hours before your scheduled fasting blood glucose test.

The results are interpreted as follows: you have diabetes is your fasting blood sugar is 126mg/dl and above, you have pre-diabetes if it is 100-125mg/dl, and you have normal blood sugar levels at 99mg/dl or less.

If your results show that you have either diabetes or pre-diabetes, talk to your doctor right away, for advice on proper lifestyle and diet, and to start you on the right medication.

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Foot gangrene is one of the most dreaded forms of diabetic foot. It may initially present as frequent cramping of the legs with long distance walks. It is worsened with smoking, uncontrolled hypertension and high blood cholesterol levels. The risk of foot amputation is around 15x higher for diabetics (Gayle R, Benjamin AL, Gary NG. The burden of diabetic foot ulcers. The American Journal of Surgery 1998Aug 24; 176(Suppl 2A):65-105).

Diabetes complications like this are preventable with early diagnosis and good control of blood sugars (http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe0807625).

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