I am 47 years old now and a few months ago my doctor told me after going through my blood test result that my blood sugar level is higher than normal. He also said if I don’t make changes in my lifestyle I could develop type 2 diabetes.
Until than I didn’t know much about diabetes. I heard about type 1 and type 2 diabetes but I wasn’t sure about the difference. I wasn’t sure what should I do and I didn’t know that diabetes is a lifelong condition which means that there is no cure at this time.
I went on the Internet and I found out that about 10.7% of people of age 20 and older have diabetes and 57 million people have pre-diabetes. It turned out that I belong to the pre-diabetes group.
I found out that diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. Uncontrolled diabetes can result in heart disease, strokes, high blood pressure, blindness, kidney disease, nervous system disease and amputation.
What my doctor was trying to tell me is that my Fasting Plasma (blood) Glucose level was over 100 mg/dl, the normal range is 70-100 mg/dl. This is because my body doesn’t make enough insulin (type 1 diabetes when the body doesn’t make any insulin) and my liver makes too much sugar.
My doctor suggested participating in a Diabetes Self-Management Program presented by Achieving Better Control Inc. My Aetna health insurance plan covered this program 100%. This was a three day program in a small group of 10 people. We learnt everything about diabetes. The program also explained why a low-carb diet is so important with regular exercise. Vitamin D may also help managing diabetes.
Three month later my blood sugar level went down and I also lost 9 pounds.
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