Several years ago, I was given a glucose tolerance test, and was told
I was "near the edge" and should "watch it". Recently I used some urine
glucose test strips put out by biotel, and the results were clearly
negative. Approximately how much peace of mind should one draw from these
strips?
-Dave
30
Nov
glucose screening strips
In article <2trpne$…@hebron.connected.com>, d…@hebron.connected.com (David Casey) says:
>Several years ago, I was given a glucose tolerance test, and was told
>I was "near the edge" and should "watch it". Recently I used some urine
>glucose test strips put out by biotel, and the results were clearly
>negative. Approximately how much peace of mind should one draw from these
>strips?
It means at least that you haven’t "taken a full dive over the cliff". Urine strips
react if you have spilled sugar into your urine since you last voided. Not having
done that is a sign that you don’t have full blown run away diabetes. Urine
testing is not a very accurate test, however. The point at which different
people start spilling sugar varies tremendously, rare individuals even
pass sugar at normal bg levels. "Near the edge" as determined by a
glucose tolerance test probably means some level of impared glucose
tolerance below the level defined as diabetic. The diagnostic levels
are somewhat fuzzy. "Watch it" usually means keep your weight down,
eat a good diet and avoid high sugar loads, and know the symptoms of
diabetes so you catch it early if it develops. Statistically, if you follow the
first of these, the last will never be relevent.
Practice Random Kindness And Senseless Acts of Beauty.
ccough…@ucsd.edu (Internet) …!ucsd!ccoughran (UUCP) CCOUGHRA@UCSD (BITNET)
Charles Coughran (ccough…@ucsd.edu) wrote:
: In article <2trpne$…@hebron.connected.com>, d…@hebron.connected.com (David Casey) says:
: >
: >Several years ago, I was given a glucose tolerance test, and was told
: >I was "near the edge" and should "watch it". Recently I used some urine
: >glucose test strips put out by biotel, and the results were clearly
: >negative. Approximately how much peace of mind should one draw from these
: >strips?
: It means at least that you haven’t "taken a full dive over the cliff". Urine strips
: react if you have spilled sugar into your urine since you last voided. Not having
: done that is a sign that you don’t have full blown run away diabetes. Urine
You could still have full blown diabetes and not be passing sugar in your
urine if your own renal threshold is high. All the negative tests means
is that your blood glucose level is below your renal threshold. I think
your doctor should have been a lot more specific than simply telling you
to "watch it," though.
: testing is not a very accurate test, however. The point at which different
: people start spilling sugar varies tremendously, rare individuals even
: pass sugar at normal bg levels. "Near the edge" as determined by a
: glucose tolerance test probably means some level of impared glucose
: tolerance below the level defined as diabetic. The diagnostic levels
: are somewhat fuzzy. "Watch it" usually means keep your weight down,
: eat a good diet and avoid high sugar loads, and know the symptoms of
: diabetes so you catch it early if it develops. Statistically, if you follow the
: first of these, the last will never be relevent.
Normal weight people get type II diabetes, too, and it’s always helpful to
know the symptoms if you are at risk. Type II diabetes also has a huge
genetic component.
d…@hebron.connected.com (David Casey) writes:
> I used some urine glucose test strips put out by biotel, and the
> results were clearly negative. Approximately how much peace of mind
> should one draw from these strips?
Approximately none.
As others have already described, the renal threshold varies, and can be high
enough that urine tests fail to detect serious cases of type 2 diabetes.
And if you had impaired glucose tolerance based on a glucose tolerance test,
you should be following a regimen for type 2 diabetes controlled by diet and
exercise. "Watch it" should be a clear and active direction, not passive
observation.
If you plan to monitor your own condition, visually-read blood glucose strips
are an economical and viable alternative to regular lab tests, and they offer
the possibility of checking your condition much more frequently. In the US,
even a blood glucose meter is an economical choice.
–
Edward Reid e…@titipu.resun.com (normal)
PO Box 378 Edward_R…@acm.org (forwarding)
Greensboro FL re…@freenet.fsu.edu (seldom checked)