Pre-diabetes

[VinnyJames]

I've never seen 9.2 on my home meter..
I oscillate between 5 and 7 ordinarily.

 

[NoCrbs4Me]

I've never seen 9.2 on my home meter..
I oscillate between 5 and 7 ordinarily.

Did you have a meter before October 2013? Using that HbA1c tool, an HbA1c of 5.3% = an average blood glucose level of 5.9 mmol/L.

 

[VinnyJames]

I didn't start using a meter till around November 2013

 

[NoCrbs4Me]

What were your readings like when you first started testing?

 

[VinnyJames]

well I was testing out Weetabix and pizzas when I first started testing (to see if what people said would happen did happen) then trying meat salads so a low would be less than 6% and a high would be up 7.5% 2 hours post meal.

 

[VinnyJames]

7,4% = 57,4 mmol/mol hba1c equivalent to average glucose level of 9.2 mmol over previous three months

View attachment 8848

Diabetes is diagnosed at 6,5%

Assuming no error in hba1c you are definitely diabetic

Pavlos

If diabetes is diagnosed at 6.5% is that the meter reading mmol/L?

 

[VinnyJames]

Its so hard to imagine getting over 9 on the home meter but that's what must have been happening. I must have got control very quickly thru low carbing!!

 

[zand]

Yes, that's the beauty of low carbing!

 

[pavlosn]

If diabetes is diagnosed at 6.5% is that the meter reading mmol/L?

Hi @VinnyJames

The reading you get on your meter in the morning is your fasting blood glucose test ( although preformed on capillary blood and so slightly different than a similar count by a lab based on venal plasma extracted from a blood sample taken by your doctor) and in the UK it is measured in mmol/l and in many other countries in mg/dl

The World Health Organisations defines the following fasting glucose test results:

- Normal: 6.0 mmol/L and below (below 110mg/dl)
- Impaired fasting glucose: Between 6.1 and 6.9 mmol/L (between 110mg/dl and 125mg/dl)
- Diabetic: 7.0 mmol/L and above (126mg/dl and above)

Impaired fasting glucose is a form of pre-diabetes.

The hba1c is a measure of how much glucose has attached itself to the hemoglobin molecules in your blood, and is a indication of your average glucose levels over the preceding three months. In the Uk it is measured in mmol/mol and in many other countries as a %.

According to diagnostic guidelines set out by the World Health Organisation (WHO), a HbA1c value of:

- 6% (below 42 mmol/mol) is considered non-diabetic
- 6-6.4% (42 to 47 mmol/mol) indicates impaired fasting glucose regulation and is considered prediabetes
- 6.5% or more (48 mmol/mol and above) indicates the presence of type 2 diabetes

I hope this clears matters up

Pavlos

 

[Bluetit1802]

Yes, control can be got very quickly as evidenced by several people on this forum. Always providing you are hard core about low carbing.

 

[VinnyJames]

yes thanks Pavlos although my PN measures my hba1c using the IFCC measure. So I use that too as the percentages confuse her.

I don't think it helps that the percentages are so close to each other on the meter and in the hba1c.

Also, my current hba1c is classified as non- diabetic by WHO but my fasting blood glucose varies between normal and impaired.

Thanks for the help Pavlos

 

[pavlosn]

yes thanks Pavlos although my PN measures my hba1c using the IFCC measure. So I use that too as the percentages confuse her.

I don't think it helps that the percentages are so close to each other on the meter and in the hba1c.

Also, my current hba1c is classified as non- diabetic by WHO but my fasting blood glucose varies between normal and impaired.

Thanks for the help Pavlos

My current a1c is 5,2% ( 33mmol) and both my fasting and post prandial counts are non diabetic 99% of the time.

Believe me that does not mean that I am cured, just well controlled.

I would advise that you stop agonizing over whether you have been misdiagnosed or not just get on with your life, enjoy living, hopefully without abandoning any good habits you have picked up as a diabetic.

I really do not understand why you are finding this so difficult.

To me, not to be diabetic, but have to adopt the healthy lifestyle that a diabetic is forced to adopt, sounds like the best of both worlds,

Why is a label so important to you?

Pavlos

 

[VinnyJames]

I'm not agonizing Pavlov I just wondered if I might be able to get life insurance without the hassle and expense of a pre-existing condition.

I'm very grateful to the NHS for probably saving me from severe complications later in life. I'm now very well controlled and hope to remain that way for many years to come.
BTW I do appreciate your excellent advice.

 

[vit90]

My one and only lab-assessed fasting BG was 4.5 (normal) and I haven't seen results on my meter out of the normal range (though I am on a strict low calorie and low carb diet) but the HbA1c results (two over a three month period) were high (though the second one was improved) and this indicates a historically abnormal high level of blood glucose over a period of about three months which is how long your red blood cells, (which provide the data) live for. I would guess that if I had an HbA1c test in a couple of months time thanks to my diet and increased exercise that the result would be in the normal range too. But I think the litmus test for anyone to pass in order to be declared non-diabetic is a glucose insulin-resistance test which measures your response to a sudden heavy does of glucose administered via a drink. If your blood glucose returns to a normal level without the assistance of strenuous exercise in a given time period then I can't see how you would deserve the label of being diabetic.

 

[vit90]

I guess that a couple of months of bad diet pigging out and eating and drinking a lot of sweet things could result in a diabetic range HbA1c result for someone not technically diabetic. It's the insulin resistance test which has to be the gold standard.

 

[AndBreathe]

Vinny If you were a T1 diabetic, you would almost certainly expect to bear a loading on any life protection product you chose to buy, with certain categories beyond reach. As a T2 it will not be nearly so cut and dried.

Your profile doesn’t give any indication of your age, or any other conditions you may be suffering from. (Your profile does still state you are taking Metformin.)

For T2s, your doctor would almost certainly be asked to provide a “standard” diabetic medical report, where specific enquiries would be made about your condition. You would also have the opportunity to add context to the application form, where you would be asked to provide information regarding the condition. How that would then proceed would very much depend on a number of factors:

- Your age now
- Smoker status
- Your Occupation
- The term of the policy you would be applying for
- The type of benefits (e.g. insurance against death, critical illness or income replacement in the event you became unable to work.)
- Any other relevant health or familial issues

If you are serious about the need for life assurance, you should explore it sooner, rather than later, because I am pretty certain there is no way you would be offered any cover without the insurers having the benefit of a medical report, and the medics have something like 21 days to complete it; if I recall accurately. You would also be best placed to approach a financial advisor who operates independently (as opposed to someone from your Bank, for example), as they would be able to approach more than one company, if you weren’t being offered the terms you wanted.

As a final point, I would suggest Vinny, if you are considering going down this route you get your act in order. Reading back through this thread, frankly, it strikes me that you’re not too clear on certain scores or what various readings and tests mean.

In your shoes, I would want to be able to express my condition, blood results and so on in an accurate, non-emotional way. No insurance underwriter or actuary is ever, ever going to be interested in the injustice of everything you seem to feel, and indeed I would suggest that would go against you in an holistic review. You have some thinking to do.

For the avoidance of doubt, I am not a financial advisor, but I have done a lot of work in life companies, in pricing, underwriting and actualrial areas, so I have had a decent insight.

 

[VinnyJames]

@AndBreathe I see you may not be able to see my signature?
Are you on an iPhone?

I have had issues with life insurance companies sadly...

 

[Bluetit1802]

It seems to work the other way with Annuities. My husband is in the process of taking one out and they are very interested in my diagnosis and current situation, also my earlier breast cancer. Not to give us less money, but to give us more. The sooner they think you are going to die, the better deal you get. There has to be a good side to it!

 

[VinnyJames]

Oh blimey

 

[runner2009]

Not sure in the UK but in the states if you do not list a diagnosed preexisting condition on life insurance, they will certainly research it on your death. No payout then.