Blood sugar testing - What every diabetic should know – When and How often to test your blood sugar levels at home

The next step is to know when and how often you need to test your blood sugar levels.
This depends on various factors and your doctor is the best person to tell you how often you need to test your sugar levels.
Newly diagnosed diabetics and diabetics who are not under control may have to test
*Fasting for at least 8 hours(Before Breakfast)
*1-2 Hours After Breakfast
*Before Lunch
*1-2 Hours After Lunch
*Before Dinner
*1-2 Hours After Dinner
*Bedtime
*3 A.M. (in some conditions)
I have just mentioned the maximum that a person whom I would treat might have to test in one day. In such cases I usually ask them to get admitted and have a lovely nurse do the testing.
But on average my patients are asked to test three to four times a day till their sugar levels are in control then I ask them to test once a day.
But there are some conditions where you should test more often than normal.
Situations where your doctor might want you to check your blood sugar levels more frequently:
*If your diabetes medicine changes
*If you begin taking other kinds of medicines
*If you change your diet
*If your exercise routine or activity level changes
*If your level of stress increases
*If you are sick. When you are sick, even without eating, your sugar levels may run high, so testing is important.
Continue testing more often until you have maintained your blood sugar levels for at least 1 week, or until your doctor advises you that more frequent testing is no longer necessary.

Blood sugar testing - What every diabetic should know – The importance of an HbA1C test

In my last article I talked about how to learn the correct way to test your blood sugar levels at home. After reading that you now know how to check your sugar levels correctly.

Let me tell you about the HbA1c blood test.

How often should this test be done?
This test is usually done once in 3 months for diabetics

What is the use of doing this test?
It tells your doctor and you the average blood sugar level during the past three months.

One of my patients had asked me this question. “Why should I do this test? I check my blood sugar every week.”
This was my answer: it is not enough to know the fasting blood sugar and post Prandial blood sugar levels because what I have seen among my patients is that just before the blood test for few days they eat correctly and when the test comes the level is almost normal. But when I do this test for them it shows a high value. This means that most of the “other” time my patient has high blood sugar levels.
Similarly your doctor and you need to know if this is what happens in your case and your treatment needs to change depending on such a result, or tomorrow a diabetes complication could occur and both your doctor and you will wonder why this happened to you.

Blood sugar testing - What every diabetic should know

Blood sugar testing - What every diabetic should know - How to learn the correct way to test your blood sugar levels at home

Merry Christmas and wish you all a very Happy Healthy New Year!!!

During the holiday season especially during festivals diabetic people wonder what their blood sugar levels are and what they can do to keep it in control.

Lots of people have doubts about their blood sugar levels.

Some of the questions that people have asked me are:

· What should my blood sugar level be most of the time?

· How often should I test my blood sugar levels?

· What is the HbA1C blood sugar test and how often should I test that?

· Is there any particular time of the day that I should test my blood sugar levels?

· Is there anything else that I should know about blood sugar testing?

My answer to them is, “Learn to measure your blood sugar levels correctly”

How do you do that?

First buy a glucometer. You can pick one up from anywhere but you can go here to get one that I recommend.

Secondly, after you have a glucometer. You need to learn how to use it correctly. It is a machine and if used wrongly, it will give wrong results. In my experience what you should do is read the booklet that came with the machine. Next take the glucometer along with you for your next appointment and ask your doctor to show you how to use it. After that you show the doctor how you check you blood sugar levels and ask if you are doing it correctly. If you are making any mistakes your doctor can correct you.

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT): Risk factors and Preventive measures along with some Diet advice

Recently I received some questions from our subscribers asking me advice on Deep Vein Thrombosis
I thought it might help other people also If I wrote about it in my blog.

Here is some information regarding Deep vein thrombosis (DVT):

What is DVT?
Deep vein thrombosis is a condition in which a blood clot (thrombus) forms in one or more of the deep veins in your body, usually in your legs.
Deep vein thrombosis is a serious condition because a blood clot that has formed in your vein can break loose and travel to your lungs. This is called a pulmonary (lung) embolism. In severe cases, a pulmonary embolism can cause death. However, many instances of deep vein thrombosis disappear on their own.

Who is likely to get DVT?

Some risk factors for developing deep vein thrombosis include:

• Sitting for long
  periods of time, such as when driving or flying.
• Prolonged bed rest, such as during a long hospital stay, or paralysis.
• Injury or surgery.
• A history of deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism. If you've had DVT before, you're more likely to have DVT in the future.
• Being overweight or obese. Being overweight increases the pressure in the veins in your pelvis and legs.
• Smoking. Smoking affects blood clotting and circulation.

If you have any of these conditions/problems consult your doctor on what steps you can take to manage your problem.
In case you want to lose weight we recommend Diet Care Regular or Diet Care Value packages to help you reduce weight
Click on the link below to chat with our dieticians.
http://www.yoscare.in/dietcare

Your goal should be preventing deep vein thrombosis from occurring.

What steps should you take to prevent DVT?

To prevent deep vein thrombosis:

• Take any prescribed medicines as directed.
• Visit your doctor regularly to see if your medication or treatments need to be modified.
• If you take blood thinners (anticoagulants), avoid foods rich in Vitamin K, which can affect how drugs like warfarin work. Foods high in vitamin K include green leafy vegetables such as spinach, Amaranth, green cabbage, brocolli and cauliflower also avoid soybean oils.
• Exercise your lower calf muscles if you'll be sitting a long time. Whenever possible, get up and walk around.
• Move around. If you've been on bed rest, because of surgery or other factors, the sooner you get
  moving, the less likely blood clots will develop.
• Make lifestyle changes. Lose weight, quit smoking and control your blood pressure. Obesity, smoking and
  high blood pressure all increase your risk of deep vein thrombosis.
• Wear compression stockings to help prevent blood clots in the legs if your doctor recommends them.
• Be careful that you do not have excessive bleeding, which can be a side effect of taking medications such as blood thinners.

Please let me know if you have any further questions or comments regarding Deep Vein Thrombosis by writing a comment to this blog or mail me