What are your chances of having diabetes? Over 100 million people have diabetes or pre-diabetes but “7.2 million Americans didn’t know they had the condition. Only 11.6 percent of adults with prediabetes knew they had it.” (CDC July 2017) The risk of diabetes is high but the ability to control type 2 diabetes is also high. By exercising and eating right, many are able to control their blood sugar and many with pre-diabetes are able to prevent being diagnosed as diabetic.

November is diabetes awareness month, so what better time than now to visit your doctor and get your blood test? Your doctor will ask you to do a fasting glucose which involves not eating before the test or will order an A1c test. The A1c test will show an average blood sugar level over the last several months. One person attending our pre-diabetes classes misunderstood which test she was taking and ate cookies before she went to the doctor. Because of the cookies, her fasting glucose was much higher than expected. She continued the class and improved her eating habits and increased exercising. Her next doctor visit was much better. Other people in the classes work very hard to lower their A1c through increasing physical activity to at least 150 minutes a week and tracking what they eat so they can lose 5-7% of excess weight. Even that small amount of weight loss can make big improvements in blood sugar levels.

Take notice of your own blood sugar levels and do what you can to control them early. One in 4 adults have high blood sugar which can cause problems with heart and kidney health and in severe cases causes blindness or amputations. Do what you can now to stay healthy by knowing your own personal numbers.

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