The lifestyle of diabetic patients goes through a drastic change when they are diagnosed with diabetes. Not only they get depended on the insulin injections and medication but their daily life style, eating habits and normal working schedule also changes. Even small activities seem difficult to the patient due to energy loss and diabetes generated depression.
Some of the problems diabetic patient faces are:
- Having only ‘safe diabetic friendly’ food items.
- Looking for diabetic friendly food items in the market.
- Making plans before having meals.
- Regular blood sugar test or not forgetting about the other test appointments
- Re-arranging working schedule to find time for more physical activities.
- Making decision on what to have in a restaurant or in a party (since not all dishes are safe)
- Remembering to take medication on time.
- Need to visit toilet frequently.
- One of the main problems that the diabetic patients face is going through several tests to keep a check on the health.
The main tests involved are:
1. Blood test
- The commonest test to detect high blood sugar level in the body using blood samples.
- Your doctor will collect your blood sample and pass it through several tests to get detailed information about your blood. (if you are pregnant the same test will be done by an obstetrician)
2. Oral glucose-tolerance test
- Generally done if you have gestational diabetes.
- It involves blood sample taken once and then given syrupy glucose substance for drinking.
- Then your blood samples will be taken at an interval of 30-60 minutes to test whether your body can handle the glut of sugar.
3. Fasting blood sugar
- It is an easy blood sugar test which involves fasting overnight.
- The next day you need to go to your doctor for your blood test.
- Normal result is 70-99 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl) or less than 5.5 mmol/L
4. Two-hour postprandial test
- This test involves blood sugar level test after two hours of having meal.
- Prandial means meal
- Normal result is 70-145 mg/dL (less than 7.9 mmol/L)
5. Random blood sugar
- This kind of blood sugar test is conducted regardless of when you have eaten.
- The Normal result is 70-125 mg/dL (less than 7.0 mmol/L)
6. Hemoglobin A1C test
- This test finds out how long sugar has remained stuck to your red blood cells.
- Generally they remain stuck for three months.
- Therefore, tests are conducting to check the amount of sugar for the recent months.
- Normal result for non-diabetics is 4% to 6% and Normal result for diabetics is 7% or lower (some groups suggest aiming for 6.5% or lower)
- If the result is 8% or above then it means the blood sugar level isn’t under control and a change in lifestyle according to diabetes is highly needed!
How can you live easily with diabetes assessment?
1. Visit the doctor on a weekly basis to keep proper check on your health.
You need to make appointments with your physician or diabetes educator to know more about your diabetes.
2. Follow your medications strictly.
You need to have all your medicines on time and take your insulin injections on time. This will help in quicker control of your blood sugar level if you have a very high sugar level.
3. Don’t ignore the blood sugar tests which are recommended by the doctors.
Monitoring your blood sugar level is the prime need during your diabetic phase. Not only it will help in keeping check on the blood sugar level but also give you detailed information about your present health status.
4. Do all the needful for taking the test.
Not all sugar tests are easy, some also involve fasting. Therefore, when necessary you have to take meals on time and control your hunger.
5. You can also take help of self-monitoring blood sugar level devices.
If you are gadget friendly and wish to conduct your tests in the comfort of your home, then you may invest in devices which are made for self-assessment of the blood sugar level.
Some of the popular devices for sugar check are:
- Accu-check
- Dr. Morpean Glucose monitor
- Omron strips
- Pocket pH meter
What are the things done after the tests?
- Your doctor will study your blood sample report and brief you about the changes you need to have in your present lifestyle. You may have to adjust to the changes every time there is a drastic change in your blood sugar level.
- Follow all the instructions given by your doctor or diabetes educator.
- If you are able to follow each and every advice properly, you will be able to recover much sooner than estimated.
- Go through these tests on a timely basis to keep a proper check.
- Follow required workout regime and diet plans to maintain proper health.
Conclusion
Living with diabetes assessments or tests isn’t an easy task. You have to go through several tests to keep check on your blood sugar level, blood pressure, cholesterol level and more. Some of these tests can be conducted only in hospitals while some can be conducted in home as well. If you are aiming for a faster recovery, you need to go through these tests since these tests will only prove how much you have progressed in your attempts. So, work hard and try to achieve your health goals!