Diabetes Epidemic

[healthinfo6]

Most allopaths DON'T do this test which is why Dr. Atkins DID do it starting in the 70's. Most allopaths DON'T even know what to suggest if a younger person is not clearly diabetic. They don't do anything until you're in diabetes, like Dr. Bernstein. Kind of late then. There is growing awareness of pre-diabetes. This a great way to see if you're not only predisposed to diabetes but having early signs many years before.

SInce diabetes type 2 is growing fast, suggestions are being made to use the A1C blood test to diagnose diabetes. This test, currently not used until you are already diabetic, measures how your blood glucose is controlled over the past 2-3 month period but will not give an early a warning as GTT. The A1C test measures the percentage of glycated hemoglobin in the blood, which is a reflection of average blood glucose control
Experts urge new screening for diabetes

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/06/08/di ... l?section= cnn_latest
What damage? How horrible? The average young person usually eats much greater amounts of carbs in one sitting than this test provides, usually refined, daily. Cookies, candy, fries, soda, etc. It's not a single glucose reading you need, it's how you respond from a fasting state that shows your predispostion compared against standard results.

While today you can do the test at home, the home blood glucose meter has an error range between it's result and a lab AND current regulations allow a 20 mg/dl error rate for under 100 and over 100 it's 20% for each test strip reading. So a reading of 150 could actually be between 120 to 180. So it's best to have it done through a lab to get a baseline:

"Glucose levels in plasma (one of the components of blood) are generally 10%–15% higher than glucose measurements in whole blood (and even more after eating). This is important because home blood glucose meters measure the glucose in whole blood while most lab tests measure the glucose in plasma. Currently, there are many meters on the market that give results as "plasma equivalent," even though they are measuring whole blood glucose. The plasma equivalent is calculated from the whole blood glucose reading using an equation built into the glucose meter. This allows patients to easily compare their glucose measurements in a lab test and at home. It is important for you and your healthcare provider to know whether your meter gives its results as "whole blood equivalent" or "plasma equivalent" "

Susan