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Family History Effects On Type 2 Diabetes Article
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Testing for diabetes
Do you think that you or someone you know may have developed diabetes? If so, there are tests that you can take to accurately determine if diabetes is present. These tests include a monitoring of blood sugar levels by a medical laboratory. Abnormal blood sugar levels are the key to diagnosing diabetes, and they are also the reason the affliction needs to be taken so seriously. There are two types of diabetes that one may contract.
Type I diabetes occurs when the beta cells that are located inside one's pancreas begin to be attacked by the rest of the body, causing them to stop production of insulin. Insulin is a crucial compound that our body produces. It helps to transport the sugars we eat to the cells of our body, which in turn use that sugar as fuel. If not enough insulin is produced by the body, sugar can not be used as fuel by the body's cells, and it instead remains in the bloodstream. This can cause abnormal and dangerously high blood sugar levels. People with Type I diabetes have to have insulin injections often to help their body process sugar. In Type II diabetes, the body produces insulin, but the insulin is unable to be taken into the cells due to a lack of function in the cells receptors. This is a problem that most commonly affects obese people. The reason for this is that fat may cause cells in the body to create an insulin resistance. Since the cells cannot receive insulin, the sugar we ingest remains in the bloodstream, just as in Type I diabetes. To aid Type II, weight loss and oral medications are the most commonly prescribed solutions.
If you think you may be diabetic, there are a couple of warning signs to look for. Do you experience excessive urination? This could be due to the body trying to flush out the excess sugar in the bloodstream. In turn, you may also feel an extreme need for thirst. Commonly, intense hunger is found in those with diabetes. This is due to the fact that the body does not realize why the sugar it ingests is not being processed, so it is simply asking for more food to help remedy the problem.
The main test for checking for diabetes is to monitor the blood sugar levels of a person at various points before and after meals. This can gauge whether or not the body is processing and using insulin as it needs to. There is another test, which is known as the glycosylated hemoglobin test. Also referred to as HbA1c, this test is not commonly used to check for diabetes. Developed in the late 1970s, this test helps to show the average blood sugar levels of a person during the last two to three months. It is commonly used to help gauge general baselines for what a person with diabetes' blood sugar levels are at, and to see if there is an improvement in the levels of a person over a long period of time.
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