Understanding Diabetes

When Karyn Wofford, the implementation manager at Any Lab Test Now, was 12 years old, what she thought was a case of homesickness at summer camp wound up being a life-threatening illness. She was at cheer camp when she suddenly dropped weight and became thirsty and irritable. While she was at camp, she chalked it up to wanting to get home. But, once she was home and even on a family vacation, her symptoms only got worse. Had it not been for her mom’s maternal instincts and quick thinking, Karyn’s outcome could have been much different.

Her mom took her to the doctor where she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes — an autoimmune disease that can be deadly if not properly managed. They found out that while at cheer camp, Karyn was experiencing DKA or diabetic ketoacidosis. Her body wasn’t producing insulin properly, and she could have lapsed into a coma or even death.

She experienced many of the typical symptoms you might expect to see with type 1 diabetes.

Type 1 Diabetes Symptoms:

  • Comes on suddenly
  • Rapid weight loss
  • Thirsty all the time
  • Frequent urination
  • Irritability
  • Feeling tired and weak
  • Blurry vision

What You Need to Know

Karyn’s story is important to understand. As a parent, being aware of these symptoms is crucial for the health of your child. Often, especially in children, symptoms of diabetes can be misdiagnosed as flu or other common ailments.

Type 1 diabetes was once called juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes because it is typically diagnosed during childhood or adolescence, but it CAN develop in adults. Diagnosis means your pancreas makes little or no insulin — a hormone needed by your body to allow sugar, or glucose, to be used for energy. 

There is no cure, but careful management allows type 1 diabetics to lead a normal life. Karyn, for example, uses a monitoring system to check her glucose level and has an attached insulin pump to continually regulate her blood sugar. The idea is to keep it at an acceptable level and not dip too low or soar too high. While she has had a few scares over the years, she has been living with type 1 diabetes for 20 years because she is very careful about what she eats and has a heightened awareness of her health.

Type 2 Diabetes

There is a second kind of diabetes, often referred to as adult-onset or type 2 diabetes. Unlike type 1, symptoms develop more slowly.

Symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes:

  • Increased thirst
  • Frequent urination
  • Increased hunger
  • Unintended weight loss
  • Fatigue
  • Blurred vision
  • Slow-healing sores
  • Frequent infections
  • Numbness or tingling in the hands or feet
  • Areas of darkened skin, usually in the armpits and neck

Type 2 diabetes is the most common type of diabetes and typically occurs in middle-aged or older people. It occurs when your blood sugar or blood glucose is too high. Again, glucose is vital to provide energy for your body, and cells get glucose from the food we eat. Insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas, is needed to give the body that energy. When you have type 2 diabetes, your body doesn’t make or use insulin well. There’s too much sugar in the blood and not enough in the cells that need it.

Differences in Types of Diabetes

Type 1 Diabetes Causes:

  • Autoimmune response
  • Can be genetic
  • Can be caused by a virus

Type 2 Diabetes Causes/Risk Factors:

  • Family history
  • Overweight
  • High blood pressure
  • American Indian, Black or African American, Asian American, Hispanic/Latino, or Pacific Islander

Looking Out for Your Health

Karyn’s type 1 diabetes could not be prevented, but type 2 can. If you feel like you or a family member may be symptomatic or have certain risk factors, or if you want to take preventative measures to decrease your risk, the American Diabetes Association recommends the best medical test for diabetes is a glucose test through blood work.

Any Lab Test Now® can provide the answers you are looking for. We offer a Diabetes Maintenance Panel, which effectively tests diabetics and those who want to find out if they have diabetes. There are four tests in this panel, including:

  1. Complete Blood Count (CBC) – may show infection or anemia
  2. Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (CMP)
  3. Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1C) – can detect pre-diabetes, diagnose, or see how well controlled it is
  4. Diabetic Urinalysis – will determine if there is protein in your urine, indicating improper kidney function.

Any Lab Test Now® is also a great resource for glucose testing.  We can conduct the Glucose (Serum) Test, also known as the Fasting Blood Glucose Test. This is the most common test used to diagnose hyperglycemia (higher than normal levels of blood sugar), hypoglycemia (lower than normal levels of blood sugar), and diabetes.

This test will determine if your blood glucose level is within a healthy range. It will also screen for, diagnose, and monitor pre‐diabetes, diabetes, hyperglycemia, and hypoglycemia.

Understanding Diabetes

Diabetes, whether type 1, like Karyn’s, or type 2, is more prevalent than you might think. There are an estimated 37 million Americans who have some form of diabetes. Numbers show that one in every three Americans, or 96 million people, have a condition known as pre-diabetes.

Pre-diabetes means your blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Over time, if uncontrolled, you could develop type 2 diabetes.

Education and Prevention

Being aware of the symptoms and risk factors of diabetes is a great first step to taking charge of your health. Left untreated, type 2 diabetes can lead to complications with other body systems and organs,including your heart, blood vessels, nerves, eyes, and kidneys.

Not only can you change your diet and exercise to live a healthier life and possibly prevent type 2 diabetes, but it’s important to understand your body and put your wellness first. Utilizing the screenings at Any Lab Test Now® will provide the answers you need — whether that’s giving you peace of mind, alerting you to a problem that may need further evaluation from your physician, or providing a diabetes monitoring system — we are able to serve your needs.

You may choose to discuss your results further with a healthcare professional to give you guidance about medications or diabetes management, but you do not need an order from your doctor to have testing done. We provide the doctor’s orders!

Call now to schedule an appointment at a location near you to take back your health.

Understanding Diabetes

Diabetes – The Chronic Condition That Can Strike at Any Age

About one out of every ten people have diabetes. However, one out of every five of those people do not realize they have this potentially deadly condition. In fact, diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States.

To educate people about the disease, November is designated Diabetes Awareness Month. Diabetes can strike anyone, at any age.

Let’s start with the basics. What exactly is diabetes?

Diabetes is a chronic health condition that causes higher than average blood sugar levels. Normally, your body produces insulin from the pancreas to help regulate the blood sugar. Insulin acts like a key to open your cells to allow the blood sugar to enter so you can use it for energy. If you have diabetes, your pancreas either doesn’t make enough insulin or cannot effectively use its own insulin.

There are two main forms of diabetes, with very different causes, symptoms and treatments.

Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes is an auto-immune disease, and while there are treatments to manage it, there is no cure. About 5 percent of people who have diabetes have type 1 diabetes — or insulin-dependent diabetes. In the past, type 1 diabetes was called juvenile diabetes, because patients often found out they had it during childhood, but people of all ages can develop type 1 diabetes.

In type 1 diabetes, the pancreas produces no insulin. The reason? The body’s immune system attacks the insulin-producing islet cells in the pancreas. The islet cells sense glucose in the blood and produce the right amount of insulin to normalize blood sugars. Once the insulin-producing cells are destroyed, a person can no longer produce their own insulin. Without insulin, sugar stays in the blood and builds up.

Complications of Type 1 Diabetes

If left untreated, high blood sugar levels can cause health complications and internal damage.

Blindness is a common diabetes complication. Diabetes is also a leading cause of kidney failure. Many people with diabetes have impaired sensation in the hands and feet, including neuropathy.

Diabetes can also cause digestive problems, erectile dysfunction, and fertility issues. The conditions also increase the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. Diabetes can also lead to amputation of toes and feet. In extreme cases, it can also lead to coma and death.

Signs of Type 1 Diabetes

Symptoms of type 1 diabetes often appear suddenly. The most common symptoms are:

  • Increased thirst
  • Increased urination
  • Bed-wetting may occur in children who have already been toilet trained
  • Rapid and unexplained weight loss
  • Extreme hunger
  • Extreme weakness or fatigue
  • Unusual irritability
  • Blurred vision
  • Nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain
  • Fruity breath odor

Treatment of Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes is treated by taking daily insulin injections or using an insulin pump or other device to replace the insulin no longer created naturally. A healthy diet and regular exercise can also help control blood sugar levels.

If you take too much insulin, then your blood sugar can drop to a dangerously low level. This is called hypoglycemia, and it can be life-threatening. If you take too little insulin, your blood sugar can rise to a dangerously high level. Your cells are not getting the sugar, or energy, they need. This is called hyperglycemia.

You will work with your doctor to determine the proper insulin dose and delivery method.

Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes.  About 90 percent of people with diabetes have type 2, or non-insulin-dependent diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is also called adult-onset diabetes, since it typically develops after age 35. Type 2 diabetes is typically tied to people who are overweight, with a sedentary lifestyle. People with type 2 diabetes are able to produce some of their own insulin, but often it’s not enough.

Signs of Type 2 Diabetes

Many of the symptoms of type 2 diabetes are similar to those of type 1 diabetes. The difference is the onset of the condition. Type 2 diabetes usually presents more slowly, and the symptoms are not as noticeable as those for type 1 diabetes. For these reasons, many people mistakenly overlook the warning signs. They also might think that the symptoms are the signs of other conditions, like aging, overworking or hot weather. The complications of type 2 diabetes mirror those of type 1.

A combination of risk factors can increase the likelihood of type 2 diabetes. They include:

  • Being overweight
  • Family history
  • Physically inactive
  • Age 45 or older

Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes

One of the biggest differences between type 1 and type 2 diabetes is the approach to treatment. The majority of treatment programs for type 2 diabetes focus on diet, exercise and weight loss as well as improving ways to better use the insulin the body already produces to normalize blood sugar levels. If blood sugar levels are still high, medications can help the body use its own insulin more efficiently. In some cases, insulin injections are necessary. Unlike type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes can be reversed.

Prediabetes

Prediabetes means that your body is showing signs that could lead to type 2 diabetes. In prediabetes, there is too much glucose in the blood, but not as much as in diabetes.

People with prediabetes often have no symptoms at all. Your health care provider may decide to test you for prediabetes because of your age, weight, family history of diabetes or other health factors.

Not everyone with prediabetes will get diabetes, but the risk increases, especially if they don’t make lifestyle changes.

There are four main ways people with prediabetes can manage their condition:

  • Eating well
  • Getting active
  • Weight loss
  • Medications

Diabetes Testing

Now, with COVID-19 concerns, it is even more important than ever to take control of your health. People with diabetes face a higher chance of experiencing serious complications from COVID-19. If you’ve been concerned that you might have diabetes but are afraid to go to the doctor for fear of contracting COVID-19, Any Lab Test Now provides a safer alternative and a wide variety of testing options.

Any Lab Test Now offers six specialized lab tests you can take and share the results with your doctor.

Diabetes Maintenance Panel – this provides a complete blood count, Glucose-Serum, Hemoglobin A1c, and a Diabetic Urinalysis. This is an effective panel for diabetics, and also for those who want to see if they have diabetes.

Diabetic Urinalysis (Microalbumin) – this tests for the protein albumin in the urine. It’s something that the kidneys usually filter out, so if it shows up in the results, it can point to potential diabetes complications like kidney disease.

Glucose Blood Test – this is the most common diabetes test. Additionally, diabetics self-conduct this test multiple times a day to monitor their blood glucose levels.

Glucose Tolerance Test – this is a way to check how your body metabolizes sugar. First, a blood sample is collected, then you’ll be given a cup of glucose to drink. After that, your blood will be collected again every 30 to 60 minutes. It usually takes up to three hours to complete the test and can confirm diabetes.

Hemoglobin A1c – this test is useful in helping diabetics determine if their disease is under control. It’s a valuable measure of the overall blood glucose levels over a period of several months. The test can also help detect prediabetes and diabetes.

Insulin Lab Test – this test can let you know if your body is producing too much or too little insulin. Too little insulin, also known as insulin resistance, is often associated with type 2 diabetes. If you have prediabetes, this test can be used to monitor whether diet and lifestyle changes are having a great enough impact to reverse or improve your condition.

 Be at Ease

Any Lab Test Now wants you to be at ease when it comes to seeking out any type of lab work, including testing for diabetes.

We provide you a safe and clean alternative location for lab work. Each of our 185+ stores is sanitized several times a day, in accordance with the CDC’s protocols. Any Lab Test Now is a committed partner in helping you manage your family’s healthcare so you can make educated decisions that will directly affect your quality of life. We want to put you at ease during the coronavirus outbreak. We are here to help.

 

Don’t let diabetes sneak up on you

Here at Any Lab Test Now, we believe you should have the ability to take control of your health. That’s the same message being shared this November for National Diabetes Month. This year’s theme: You Are the Center of Your Diabetes Care Team. Any Lab Test Now wants to make it easy for you and your doctor to not only diagnose your diabetes, but also to treat it. That’s why we offer a wide range of options that can help you and your physician in understanding if you have the disease and make sure you are managing it properly as well.

Understanding Diabetes

Let’s start with a brief understanding of just what diabetes is. Diabetes is a group of diseases that occur when your blood glucose (also called blood sugar) is too high. That’s bad because it can begin to cause all kinds of health problems, like heart disease, nerve damage, kidney disease, even blindness. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that 30.3 million people in the United States have diabetes as of 2017. An even more frightening fact: Twenty-three percent of those people don’t even know they have diabetes!

Risk Factors and Symptoms

So how can Any Lab Test Now help? Well, we can help on two fronts. The first is diagnosis. There are a number of risk factors that could lead you down the path to diabetes. According to the NIH, some are related to your genetics, others to your lifestyle. They include:

  • Family history
  • Over age 45
  • African American, American Indian, Asian American, or Hispanic/Latino
  • Have high blood pressure
  • Have a low HDL level or high triglycerides
  • Are not physically active
  • Have a history of heart disease or stroke

Take all these risk factors into consideration as well as these symptoms as you start to ponder your own diabetes status.

  • Increased thirst and urination
  • Increased hunger
  • Unexplained weight loss
  • Fatigue
  • Blurred vision
  • Numbness or tingling in the feet or hands
  • Wounds that do not heal

It’s important to note that many people with type 2 diabetes have no symptoms, or they’re so mild that people don’t notice them. That’s one of the reasons it’s important to know the risk factors as well.

Take Control of Your Diabetes

At Any Lab Test Now, we offer a total of six lab tests designed to help you and your doctor diagnose and manage your diabetes.

  1. The Diabetes Maintenance Panel includes four tests: Complete Blood Count, Glucose-Serum, Hemoglobin A1c, and a Diabetic Urinalysis. This is an effective panel for both diabetics and for those who want to see if they have diabetes.
  2. The Diabetic Urinalysis (Microalbumin) will test for the protein albumin in your urine. It’s something that the kidneys usually filter out, so if it shows up in the results, it can alert you and your doctor to potential diabetes complications like kidney disease.
  3. The Glucose Blood Test is the most common test used to diagnose diabetes. Additionally, diabetics self-conduct this test multiple times a day to monitor their blood glucose levels.
  4. The Glucose Tolerance Test is a way to check how your body metabolizes sugar. Your blood will be collected then you’ll be given a cup of glucose to drink. After that, your blood will be collected again every 30 to 60 minutes. It usually takes up to three hours to complete the test and can confirm diabetes.
  5. The Hemoglobin A1c is useful in helping diabetics determine if their disease is under control. It’s a valuable measure of the overall blood glucose levels over a period of several months. The test can also help detect pre-diabetes and diabetes.
  6. The Insulin Lab Test can let you know if your body is producing too much or too little insulin. Too little insulin, also known as insulin resistance, is often associated with type 2 diabetes. If you have pre-diabetes, this test can be used to monitor whether diet and lifestyle changes are having a great enough impact to reverse or improve your condition.

All of these tests can provide you and your doctor with the knowledge necessary to properly treat and manage your condition. Don’t let diabetes sneak up on you. Know your risk factors and your symptoms and take control of your health through walk-in testing. Your local Any Lab Test Now location can help you do that.