Testing It Up

In the United States, 25.8 million children and adults have diabetes. If you’re one of them, you know every well that the best way to live your life is to monitor your health. When not managed properly, diabetes can lead to several complications, including heart disease and stroke, high blood pressure, blindness, kidney diseases, and nervous system disease. To help you get the most out of your life, here are some simple ways to maintain your blood glucose levels.

1. Regularly check sugar levels. Checking your blood sugar level on a regular basis is one of the first things your physician will advise you. Make your glucose monitoring device easily accessible to you wherever you go.  Before meals, the optimum blood glucose level should be at 80 to 120 mg/dl, and 160 mg/dl or less two hours after meals.

2. Take your medications religiously. Proper and timely medication is another important thing to keep in mind to preserve your good health. Take them as directed by your physician.

3. Watch out on your fluid intake. Consuming approximately two liters of fluids is essential to maintain proper health. However, be mindful of what you’re drinking. Juices that contain carbohydrates can potentially raise your sugar level. Meanwhile, fruit juices that contain fiber can slow sugar conversion. Take your physician’s advice on the kinds of fruit juices you can enjoy.

4. Get enough sleep. Have at least eight hours of nightly sleep. Keep your room quiet and dimly lit so that you won’t have trouble getting the amount of quality snooze you need.

5. Take care of your feet. The condition of your feet can tell the intensity of your diabetes. If you experience swelling or sores, consult your doctor immediately.

Glucose test strips that are used for monitoring the blood sugar of those suffering from diabetes were recalled by Abbott Laboratories, according to a report on the Los Angeles Times.

The recall involves as many as 359 million test strips. The recall is due to the fact that the strips may not absorb enough blood as quick as it should in order to give a proper reading. It is possible that the strips may give out false low readings, which may lead diabetes sufferers to try to raise their sugar levels, according to Abbott. In its statement, the company also said that its users may not be able to treat elevated glucose levels as appropriate.

Abbot company spokesman Scott Davies shared that the test strips included in the recall were manufactured between January and May, 2010, at an Abbott facility in the United Kingdom. The recall was spurred by the discovery of the defect via routine in-house testing, according to Davies.

Erica Jefferson, spokeswoman for the Food and Drug Administration, revealed that north Chicago-based Abbott reported 22 cases of “false low” readings to the FDA. It also volunteered to do the recall.

Diabetes researcher and George Washington University associate professor of medicine Michael Thompson explained, however, that while diabetes sufferers should be rightly concerned about inaccurate blood sugar readings, “this is an error in a safer direction, falsely low rather than falsely high.”A false high reading is considered more dangerous as it can lead patients to overdose on insulin, which can trigger an episode of hypoglycemia.

Los Angeles Health Screening

The good news, according to a feature on Bloomberg BusinessWeek, is that death rates for Type 1 diabetes are falling; it is not, however, falling fast enough.

A study led by Dr. Trevor J. Orchard, a professor of epidemiology, medicine and pediatrics in the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, noted a significant drop in the mortality rates of people suffering from Type 1 diabetes. The researchers also determined that patients who were diagnosed with the condition in the 70s had a lower mortality rate when compared against those who were diagnosed in the 60s.

Dr. Orchard gave the following comment: “The encouraging thing is that, given good [diabetes] control, you can have a near-normal life expectancy.”

Despite these encouraging statistics, however, the study also found out that the mortality rates for patients suffering from Type 1 are still significantly higher than the general population – a staggering 7 times higher. For certain demographic groups, such as women, for example, the disparity in mortality rates is even more significant: mortality rates for women who have type 1 diabetes are 13 times higher than those of women who are not suffering from the disease.

Patients suffering from Type 1 diabetes produce little or no insulin, so they are forced to rely on insulin replacement therapy all their life. Insulin replacement therapy, however, is not as effective as naturally-produced insulin.

Barbara Araneo director of complications therapies at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, said: “The outcome of this study shows that diabetes care has improved in many ways over the last couple of decades, and as a result people with diabetes are living longer now… Managing and taking good care of your diabetes is the surest way to reduce the risk of developing complications later in life.”