Having diabetes means you need to monitor several things – what you are eating, your glucose levels at various times of day, your weight, your exercise level, etc.
These are only a few of the items that need to be monitored to keep you healthy. Your health care provider should be recommending that the following screening be done on a regular basis.
Every visit with your provider:
- Review blood pressure. Your goal is to keep your reading less than 130/80 mmHg
- Review your glucose log. Depending on which guidelines your provider is monitoring they will look for your glucose goal to be 90-130 before meals and 140-180 2-hours after meals.
Every 3-6 months (depending on your level of control)
- A1C reading which is an average glucose over 24 hours a day over 3 months. You should be less than 6.5-7% (again depending on the guidelines being followed).
Annual Screening
- Cholesterol panel
- Triglycerides should be less than 150
- HDL should be greater than 50 in women and 40 in men
- LDL less than 100
- Microalbumin urine test (check fro urine protein)
- Get a dialated eye exam to check for retinopathy and glaucoma
- Foot Exam, specifically looking for numbness, changes in sensitivity to touch, coldness and sores.
Make sure you are keeping up with your screening. It will help detect any early problems so you can make changes to prevent long term complications.
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