View this email in your browser

Share newsletter with friends, family and colleagues!

Medical information to help you take your health to the next level!

From Bonita Coe, MD, MBA and Best Health For Your Life Consulting LLC

High blood glucose is a final “symptom” of a metabolic process that occurs in your body for at least 5 years before the “symptom” of an abnormal blood glucose (blood sugar) occurs. Pre-diabetes is happening in your body before the blood glucose becomes consistently abnormal and is defined by a Hemoglobin A1C (HgbA1C) between 5.7% and 6.4%.

Having pre-diabetes increases your risk of developing Type II Diabetes.

What is the Hemoglobin A1C?

The Hemoglobin A1C is how much sugar is riding around on your red blood cells as they travel through your blood vessels, giving oxygen to all of your organs. The Hemoglobin A1C provides information about what your glucose control has been over the last 3 months, in contrast to a blood glucose, which is only telling you about your blood sugar at that point in time that the blood sample is taken, in a fingerstick or blood draw from your vein.  

A normal Hemoglobin A1C is 5.6% or less.

Having pre-diabetes is a sign that your body has started to have trouble with the regulation of blood glucose. If you have been told that you have pre-diabetes, do not despair. It is a good time to immediately make the lifestyle changes that have been discussed in previous newsletters (see Past Issues above).

You can do the work to reverse pre-diabetes and decrease your Hemoglobin A1C!

What is Type II Diabetes?

Type II Diabetes is currently defined as when the Hemoglobin A1C gets to 6.5% or above.

• When you eat, your body breaks down the food that you eat into glucose, which is the form of energy that the cells in every organ use.

• Your pancreas makes the hormone insulin. The cells in your body need insulin in order to take up the glucose made from the food that you eat.

• Type II Diabetes occurs when the cells in your body have trouble responding to the insulin that is made in the pancreas. This is called insulin resistance.

• Blood glucose in the body rises because the cells in your body cannot use it.

https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/basics/type2.html

https://www.animatedpancreaspatient.com/en-pancreas/view/m101-a1-the-role-and-anatomy-of-the-pancreas-animation

Why is high blood glucose bad for the body?

The high blood glucose in Type II Diabetes is the result of a cascade of metabolic changes that ultimately ends in damage to the arteries that give blood to your vital organs. In essence, Type II Diabetes is really a blood vessel disease because the final common denominator in the disease process is vascular damage in organs leading to the dreaded complications of diabetes:

• Brain-stroke

• Heart-heart attack

• Eyes-blindness

• Kidneys-kidney failure and dialysis

• Sexual organs-sexual dysfunction

• Legs and feet-peripheral vascular disease, toe, foot and leg amputations

• Stomach-persistent nausea and vomiting (diabetic gastroparesis)

• Nerves-pain in hands and feet (diabetic neuropathy)

• Skin-dry skin

• Mouth-tooth decay and dental infections

• Immune system-increased risk for infections

• Thyroid gland-increased risk of thyroid disease

• Living with Type II diabetes can cause increased stress, anxiety and depression

How will I know if I have Type II Diabetes?

Many people have diabetes and do not know it. This is why it is very important to have your doctor do blood tests to screen you for diabetes at least every three years and more often if you have medical conditions that increase your risk for having diabetes:

• Family history (especially a parent, child or sibling) and/or genetic predisposition

• Overweight or obesity

• Sedentary lifestyle

• High cholesterol

• Pre-diabetes

• Gestational diabetes (diabetes during pregnancy)

https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/basics/risk-factors.html

HERE IS WHAT YOU CAN DO!

• Get screened for diabetes at least every three years with a blood test (blood glucose and/or Hemoglobin A1C).

• The primary treatment for Type II Diabetes is eating healthy and getting regular exercise.

• Lose excess weight (see newsletter issue #4 “Let’s Talk About Losing Weight!” http://eepurl.com/iEKx8g)

  • Limit eating high sugar foods (cakes, cookies, pies, donuts, ice cream, candy etc.) and drinking sweetened beverages (sodas, fruit juices).

  • Decrease intake of starches (bread, rice, pasta and white potatoes) and high fat snacks (chips, pretzels, popcorn etc.).

  • Increase eating fresh food prepared at home.

  • Increase eating vegetables.

  • Eat low sugar fruits, like berries and apples (see newsletter #3 “Let’s Talk About Sugar!” http://eepurl.com/iCNiZU).

  • If you are going to eat meat, focus on lean meats, like baked chicken, turkey and fish.

• If you have already been diagnosed with diabetes, you should get your Hemoglobin A1C checked every 3-6 months to know where your diabetes control is.

• If your diabetes is not controlled (in general, a hemoglobin A1C above 7% is considered not controlled), work with your doctor to DO something about it.

From the last newsletter issue #4 “Let’s Talk About Losing Weight!” (http://eepurl.com/iEKx8g):

Another word on BMI…………

Body Mass Index or BMI takes into account your what your weight should be based on your height. Current guidelines say that you should strive to have a BMI of less than 25, however we are moving toward a recalibration of BMI values that defines obesity in a more biologically based approach, (which) allows for a more individualized approach rather than the current “one-size fits all.”

https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196(18)30807-3/fulltext

Note: no measurement or metric is perfect, but what whatever measurement you use to monitor your weight loss progress, work to make your number go DOWN!

Complete the survey!

Are you up to date on the things that YOU can do to prevent illness?

Do you follow lifestyle habits to promote good health?

The survey questions below will get you thinking about what you are doing (or not doing) and what you KNOW about preventing diseases BEFORE they can cause problems!

In addition, your answers will help me pack upcoming newsletters with the health information that YOU need!

Follow me!

Book a virtual consultation session to start taking your health to the next level!

The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material presented here is for informational purposes only. No material presented is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice or medical treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read here. External (outbound) links in the references to other websites or educational material are followed at your own risk. Under no circumstances is the author responsible for the claims of third-party websites or educational providers.