1st test rsults back.What do they mean?

[zolabud]

Hi all.
Zolabud here saying Hi.

I have been looking through your forum and am very impressed so far,and I want to ask what some test results mean that I have just collected.

I had a comprehensive blood test last week.It was originally thought I may have a thyroid problem and when I went to see my doctor yesterday he went through the results.Everything is 'normal'.
Except my cholesterol levels are 7.4,and I am 'borderline diabetic with readings of 6.4 (Blood glucose) He asked if I had fasted for 12 hours,which I had.

I am having another blood test in 6 months time.

My doctor suggested giving up smoking and drinking and stopping eating hard cheese.

Can anyone explain what the reading means and point me to a relevant part of this fine website?

Many thanks.

Zolabud.

 

[hanadr]

7.4 for cholesterol is sky high. blood glucose is a little up. You might find it worth trying low carbing for a while. It will cetainly drop that BG and may improve the cholesterol.
That means, reducing foods like bread, potatoes, pasta and rice to very small portions and giving up anything sugary. Also learn all the names for sugar; sucrose, glucose( any other ~ose) corn syrup. Read nutrition panels. you'll be surprised where they hide sugar.

 

[Ozzie]

when the test was taken, how long was it since you last ate, regardless of the wishy washy way the doc put it, if it's 6.4 and ya haven't eaten for a couple of hours you're diabetic, simple as. I don't mean to be too blunt, but for years docs were not treating it as seriously as it merited, (and if ya read the history of how type 2 numbers for diagnosis were arrived at, it would scare most people rigid). There's no such thing to my mind as borderline. It's either normal or it isn't. a non diabetics normal is 4.6 - 4.8, I know, my wife is getting miffed at me for keep pricking her fingers you have to start treating yourself as a diabetic, whether the doc says you are or not. and if you're not seeing the doc again for another 6 months, sack him, get a new doc.He should be testing again at least within a cpl of weeks.

The only way you can treat your own diabetes is through diet at the mo, so cut out the carbohydrates, no more fruit, rice, pasta, tuber veg like potatoes, carrots, parsnips etc and bread or bread products. get yourself a blood test monitor they're cheap enough to buy and test 1 and 2 hours after eating, if you're over 7, you're eating to many carbs. and don't let anybody try to tell you you have to eat them, that's garbage information.

Cholesterol. ha that's a laugh. 7.4, funny enough mine was that "high" on my first test and 7.2 on my second. and my doc was convinced it would be a lot higher on my second test cause i eat half dozen eggs a day putting it simply, cholesterol is made for your body by your body, and your body makes exactly how much is needed. I'm surprised your doc didn't put you on statins straight away, will be a time when hell freezes over before i take them. by the way , the figures arrived at what constitutes high is just as scary as the diabetes figures. they were both made up.

Cholesterol levels are an effect, not a cause. so like any cause and effect scenario, treating the effect does not touch on the cause. so yes you can take drugs that lower your cholesterol, but it will not treat the reason it was high in the first place. hence if you check the lipitor website, the numbers treated and untreated are virtually identical, they just glos it up a bit. so my advice, ignore ya cholesterol level.

never known a doc that didn't advise giving up smoking yes, i would advise that as well. It don't do you no good Im a smoker, I know

drinking, carry on, i would say on moderation , but sod it, i don't

if you want a link to proof read, try this one http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/

hard cheese, what's that all about, i suggest if ya peckish, reach for the cheese cubes instead of chocolate. cheese never did anybody harm, unless ya allergic.

 

[Nellie]

your glucose reading comes within the values that are in Europe, termed impaired fasting glucose and in the USA pre diabetes. This does not mean that you have type 2 nor that you will necessarily get it . ( the numbers that don't are the reason why the word prediabetic is not used in Europe). I have read on other forums of people who ,have reduced their fasting glucose to non pre diabetic levels and kept them reduced for many years. My husband had a fasting reading of 6.1, five years ago at the same time I was diagnosed with type 1. He already ate reasonably well ( a conventional healthy diet), was not overweight and exercised sporadically, he modified his diet (alongside me), eating far more veg (fibre), including good fats/oils, less saturated fat, few sugary snacks, less refined starchy carbs. He increased his exercise. His fasting glucose is now within normal limits. On the other hand research has shown that many newly identified IFG patients do progress to diabetes in <3 years.
For a diagnosis of ifg or pre diabetes, the blood test has to be repeated. However the figures should be a wakeup call to do some more exercise and eat more healthily and lose weight if necessary.
The cholesterol level is also high
Here are some links about ifg. .http://hcd2.bupa.co.uk/fact_sheets/html/impaired_fasting_glycaemia.html
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/prediabetes/DS00624
(this one is American, its blood glucose figures are in mg/dl you need to divide by 18 to get mmol as used in the UK)
Unfortunately there are very contradictory ideas on the treatment for both problems, which are most probably associated. These two sites give conventional wisdom. You will have to make up your own mind.
My own observation is that exercise seems to often be forgotten in the arguments about the correct diet and is very important.

 

[Ozzie]

oops forgot to include the link to the history of diabetes diagnosis.

http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/14046782.php

 

[DiabeticGeek]

when the test was taken, how long was it since you last ate, regardless of the wishy washy way the doc put it, if it's 6.4 and ya haven't eaten for a couple of hours you're diabetic, simple as.

Not entirely - this is in the pre-diabetic range, and there is one important difference between pre-diabetes and full-blown diabetes, and that is that pre-diabetes is reversible (or as it is usually termed in the literature - it is subject to "indefinite remission"). If it progresses to full-blown diabetes (and it will unless you do something about it) then that is permanent. You can manage the disease, but (barring major technological advances) you can never "cure" it. However, if you change your lifestyle dramatically now then there is a good chance that you can prevent this. I suggest, as others have said, cut out all obvious carbohydrates (i.e. no sweet sugary things and minimal starchy food). Also, if you are overweight then loosing some weight would probably help a lot.

Except my cholesterol levels are 7.4

This is very high, but total cholesterol levels don't tell the entire story. There are different types of cholesterol - LDL and HDL, and these figures taken together are often called your "Lipid Profile". LDL cholesterol is very damaging, and you need to keep that as low as possible. The most important thing, though, is the ratio of LDL to HDL cholesterol. If you have those figures, that is far more meaningful than the total cholesterol value. Here is a site that will help you to interpret cholesterol figures. However, whatever they are if you improve your diet and exercise then they too should improve.

My doctor suggested giving up smoking and drinking and stopping eating hard cheese.

This is a mixed bag of advice.

Giving up smoking is certainly very good advice. As I am sure that you know smoking is very bad for anyone - however, what you might not know is that it compounds all of the problems of diabetes dramatically. If you do progress to full-blown diabetes, then smoking will make it much harder to control and will also make complications far more likely. Right now, smoking makes it far more likely to progress. Either way, giving up smoking is probably the single most important thing that you can do for your health.

As for drinking - that depends, do you drink a lot? Drinking isn't bad for diabetics per se, but excessive drinking is bad for anyone and some drinks are bad for diabetes. The government recommendations are that men should drink no more than 21 units per week, and women 14. If you drink significantly more than that then you should definitely cut back. However, alcohol has the effect of lowering blood glucose, and so in itself it is harmless (or even mildly beneficial) to diabetics. Beer has a lot of carbohydrates in it, and so should probably be avoided. If you must drink beer, then pilsner type beers are the least damaging. Cocktails, liquers, "alcopops" and sweet wine have a lot of sugar in them and should also be avoided. Dry wine, and especially red wine is the best sort of drink, and spirits are pretty good too. So the short answer is give up beer and cultivate a taste for red wine and whisky (life isn't all bad :wink: ).

I have no idea where the cheese advice comes from - unless it is the knee-jerk "low fat" advice that many doctors hand out. That is very outmoded thinking, and even if one is thinking about the cholesterol - the link between dietary cholesterol and blood LDL (which is what matters) is pretty tenuous. Cheese is generally a good food for diabetics - it is usually very low in carbohydrate.

 

[zolabud]

Thank you for your very informative answers.

Just got in,will look at all the links given and get back to you.


Zolabud.

 

[zolabud]

I have just been on one of the websites mentiones earlier,the Bupa site.
I found this:

A fasting blood glucose level of between 6.1 and 6.9mmol/l indicates IFG. This is above the normal range but lower than the level that may indicate diabetes. Your result does not mean that you have diabetes or that you are at immediate risk of the problems associated with diabetes. IFG can be an early warning that type 2 diabetes may develop. If your fasting blood glucose level is within this range, your GP may offer an oral glucose tolerance test to rule out a diagnosis of diabetes.

May my next step be to see my doctor and ask hin for a glucose intolerance test?

Thanks.

Zolabud.

 

[hanadr]

They don't often do glucose tolerance tests nowadays. Usually they diagnose from fasting blood glucose and even sometimes from urine tests.

 

[DiabeticGeek]

May my next step be to see my doctor and ask hin for a glucose intolerance test?

A Glucose Tolerance Test is rather more sensitive test for diabetes than fasting serum glucose (no doubt the blood test you had done), but right now it won't tell you anything very useful. Either you have pre-diabetes (IFG), or the very early stages of diabetes. In either case you should give up smoking if at all possible, go on a low carb diet, and exercise for at least 45 minutes per day. If it is pre-diabetes this could well drive it into remission, but if it is full diabetes then this will get it under control. Go back to your doctor after a few months of this and if your BG is back in the normal range, then congratulations, you have probably caught it in time. If your BG is still high then it is time to talk about a Glucose Tolerance Test.