Helpful Diabetes Information

A Guide To Juvenile Diabetes Diagnosis

Diabetes is a disease where pancreas is unable to secrete enough insulin, or the insulin produced by the body is not used properly, giving rise to high level of sugar in the blood. There are mainly two types of diabetes. Type-1 is also known as juvenile diabetes, and usually starts at early age. In this type of diabetes, immune system of the body attacks and destroys the pancreatic cells, and hence, pancreas can no longer produce insulin. In type-2, liver, muscle and fat cells do not properly utilize the insulin.

There are many tests that are used for Juvenile Diabetes diagnosis. Fasting plasma glucose test is used to measure the blood glucose in the person who has been fasting for at least 8 hours. This test is used to detect pre-diabetes and diabetes.

Oral glucose tolerance test measures the level of glucose in the blood after fasting for 8 hours, and two hours after drinking glucose containing beverage. Random plasma glucose test measures blood glucose level irrespective of when person ate last.

Some of the other tests for juvenile diabetes diagnosis include urine test, blood test, glucose-tolerant test and fasting blood sugar.

For urine test, a urine sample is taken, and is used to detect the ketones and glucose. Ketones are the acids released in the urine and blood when instead of glucose, the body starts using fat for the energy.

Blood test that is used for juvenile diabetes diagnosis includes measuring the amount of glucose in the bloodstream. Glucose tolerance test is used to check the ability of body to process the glucose. Levels of sugar in urine and blood are monitored for three hours after taking large portion of sugar solution. Fasting blood sugar involves fasting for a night, and the blood is drawn next morning.

For juvenile diabetes diagnosis, the complete physical examination is done, and medical history is recorded, in addition to conducting all the lab tests.

Any person over the age of 30 must undergo the juvenile diabetes diagnosis once a year. A negative result does not meant that the person will never get the disease, but is just indicates that the person is not having diabetes at the time of the test. The diagnosis must be based on blood glucose estimates, and it must be made clear if blood glucose estimation has been done on venous plasma, capillary blood, or whole venous blood.

There are certain signs and symptoms of diabetes that may indicate people to go for juvenile diabetes diagnosis, but many people do not exhibit any of these symptoms despite suffering from the disease.

If you would like more articles about Gestational Diabetes or Diabetes Remedies then just click on the links.

The class of diabetes referred to as type 1 diabetes refers to the state when your body is unable to produce insulin. Insulin is a protein chemical or “hormone” that is produced from your body’s pancreas. It helps transport sugar from the blood into the cells.

Type 1 diabetes has to be managed by insulin replacement therapy. The only way to replace insulin is to inject it through the skin. Insulin will make your blood sugar drop. You have to also be mindful of how much carbohydrate you ingest. If there is a mismatch between the carbohydrate in your blood and the insulin in your body, your blood sugar may go up or down. You should get some advice from your local diabetes unit

You blood sugar will go up and down througout the day. But if it goes too high or too low, it can really cause havoc with your body. When your blood sugar is high, you may find that you need to go to the toilet – a lot, you can become quite thirsty and you can even go into a type of coma. If your blood sugar drops too low, you may find yourself become shaky and confused. What follows is a short discussion about the factors that affect your blood sugar variations:

Reasons for a High Blood Glucose level

* Skipping your dose of insulin reduces amount of insulin in blood making the body cells unable absorb sugar in the blood leading to high concentration.
* Increasing the amount of carbohydrate will cause your sugar level to increase.
* If you are ill or under metabolic stress, your blood sugars can rise.
* There is something called the dawn phenomeon – basically it means that because you haven’t been doing much overnight, your blood sugar is higher.
* Taking other medicines, consult your doctor before using most types of medicines.
* Growth hormone, which mediates growth and is increased during puberty, will make your body relatively resistant to insulin and causes your blood sugar to rise.

Factors driving a Low Blood Sugar

* If, by error, you took too much insulin, your body’s cells would suck out insulin from your blood and leave you with a low blood sugar level.
* If you were to miss a meal or take in less carbohydrate than you had expected, you may find that your blood sugar drops.
* By exercising more than usual without eating enough food, the body uses more energy than it can supply leading to a deficit in blood sugar which supplies energy to body cells.
* If you drink alcohol on an empty stomach, your blood glucose will drop as a result of the alcohol on your digestion and cell function.
* Just as some medications can raise your blood glucose level, some can also drop your blood glucose level – this includes some that you can purchase over the counter, like aspirin. Always ask for advice before you take any medication.
* Women in their menstrual period, this is because hormonal changes may affect how well insulin works in the blood.