Should You Have a Blood-Sugar Test?

It’s key to detecting a dangerous condition called pre-diabetes

• Regular exercise LOWERS diabetes risk.
• Excess tummy weight RAISES diabetes risk.
• A healthy diet LOWERS diabetes risk.

"Knowledge is power”— especially when it comes to blood sugar (glucose). A simple test can detect problems early, giving you a valuable window of opportunity to head off diabetes and its life-threatening complications.

About 1 in 6 Americans today has pre-diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association. In this symptom-less condition, your blood-sugar level is higher than normal but not yet diabetic. You’re beginning to become insulin resistant, a sign that glucose isn’t getting into the body’s cells and is starting to build up in the bloodstream.

“Pre-diabetes is like the ‘check engine’ light on your car dash,” says family medicine physician Richard Baylor, M.D., of Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network. “It tells you something’s wrong, and if you don’t correct it you could have major problems down the road.”

The main causes of pre-diabetes are physical inactivity, high-calorie foods and being overweight. While there’s no quick fix, it is reversible. “The good news is that you can lower blood-sugar level through diet and exercise,” says Cindy Rothenberger, R.N., a certified diabetes educator with the hospital. In fact, research shows that dropping just 5-10 percent of your body weight and exercising 30 minutes a day, five days a week will cut your risk in half for developing full-blown diabetes.

So do you need a blood-sugar test? If any of the pre-diabetes risk factors (see at right) apply to you, talk to your doctor about getting the fasting blood test. If your level is normal (99 mg/dl or lower), get retested every three years. If you have pre-diabetes (100-125 mg/dl), repeat the test every year.

If you’re not at risk but want to know your blood-sugar level anyway, a good first step is a free diabetes screening at a local health fair. You’ll get a finger-stick blood test that’s not as accurate as a fasting test, but will alert you if your level is high. Or consider paying for the fasting test (about $25) yourself. “Young, healthy people who want to have more control over their health should consider a full blood panel, which includes a glucose test,” Baylor says.

“Knowing your blood-glucose level is as important as knowing your blood pressure and cholesterol numbers for cardiovascular health,” says Rothenberger’s colleague, nurse practitioner Constance Molchany, C.R.N.P. “These factors all act together to cause heart attack and stroke.”

Want to Know More about blood-glucose testing and how to maintain healthy blood-sugar levels? Call 610-402-CARE or click here.

Published from Healthy You Magazine May-June 2007

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