I’d like to take a look at diabetes. This is one of the most common chronic health conditions in the United States today and is rapidly emerging as the number one chronic health condition worldwide. The cost of diabetes, in terms of medications and health-related complications, is staggering. It seems like everyone has it. It almost feels miraculous when I don’t find it on testing. What are we to do about it?
First, a definition: Diabetes is when your blood glucose is too high. We can make the diagnosis if you have any blood glucose reading over 200 or if your fasting blood glucose is over 125 on two separate occasions. Your health care provider can also make the diagnosis if the hemoglobin A1c (A1c for short) is over 6.4. This is a better long term representation of how the body is handling glucose. Glucose is a type of sugar. It is one of the main forms of energy that the body uses. It is, however, quite toxic to many sensitive tissues when elevated for too long. There are two main types of diabetes. Type 1 is an autoimmune disorder and generally happens to younger patients. This type always requires insulin. Type 2 is not an autoimmune disorder and can happen at any age, although it tends to be adults who are most affected. Just because an adult uses insulin does no ...
