Hello, Chris J

Good to hear from you.

Like you, as you know, I'm diabetic, T2, and my numbers are usually not too
bad.  50 grams of carb is not a very great load for a normal person though
it might put me over 170 at one hour. I don't take any meds currently. If I
took a brisk walk afterwards, I might manage a reasonable number with that
type of meal. But I think you know that a completely normal person would
probably be in the 120 range or less. I think you are doing the right thing
to keep an eye on it and not panic. It might be nothing. You know as well as
anyone about meter variability. But its plus 20 or minus 20 which could mean
as much as 179 (or as low as 139 which would be closer to a normal result).
Something to be concerned about, I would think, and a bit high for a normal
person in any case. Did you do a two hour test? I would expect she was
comfortably normal by then, but I usually am too. And I'm definitely sick. I
hope she will be well, but I also hope her Doctor checks her out thoroughly
with GTT and insulin resistance test and so forth. Good luck to you both.

No harm in keeping an eye on it with a meter and a regular 1 and 2 hour pp
test schedule.

regards,
rudy
bantista@thuntek.net

You should bring it to the attention of her Dr.  And if you are in charge of
the meals, then perhaps serve her a few less carbs.  She might have
pre-diabetes.  Who knows?  Until the Dr. tests her, nobody knows.

Since you're not a Dr. I don't think you should have told her that it was
not high enough to diagnose diabetes.  But she is going to the Dr. in two
weeks.  Let the Dr. handle it.

You might see if you could get her into the Dr. sooner.  Other than that,
there's not much you can do aside from what I've already said.

Chris,  from my pov it's pretty clear she's IGT.  As I remember my
tests from the igt days her 2-hr pp is still quite a bit higher than
mine was.  Now your real question is how to help her work out how to
handle this.  Her doctor might be a help, but you seem to think he
might just use the fbg as a marker, which many do.  You might try
showing her Jennifer's standards for pp control.  Your mother can
probably get those most of the time, or better, with some lower-carb
eating, and paying attention to carbs, but not necessarily as closely
as we have to do to get those readings.  In my experience people who
ask about how and what I eat are mostly shocked by the starch carbs -
everybody knows people with diabetes can't eat sugar, but bread and
potatos and rice and pasta surprise them.  So many of these are part of
that 'healthy diet' promoted everywhere.  Making her aware of the carbs
in these, and what they do to her bg, might give her a sense of what
she can do to control things a bit.  At this stage she can probably use
the portion control method to keep her consumption down.

You say she's about 20 lb overweight; most people at her age don't
worry a lot about that kind of weight, but losing it, or some, would
probably do some good.  It really depends on how much she wants to work
at it.  She's 78 - can she get a bit more exercise?  A daily walk, if
she's able, could also help, especially after a meal.  It sounds as
though she's in good shape - people that age start thinking about
staying that way, and are more concerned about health than they've
usually been.  She may be interesting in making the changes that can
keep her in the igt stage, and less stressed than you think, but you
know her best.  Your experience certainly would alarm her, but her
condition is different from yours.
There's another book by Gretchen Baker on IGT; I've not seen it, but it
might be a good source for you, and maybe for her.  I controlled my IGT
for about 10 years, and I might still be there if I had not become
complacent and reluctant to spend the cash on strips.  

Susan Adair

She's doing fine.

1. Being 20 lbs overweight at her age fine.  There's evidence that over
age 70 weight loss for any reason, including intentional dieting is
associated with an increased risk of death. And being slightly
overweight at that age has been found to be healthier than being
"normal" weight.  So DON'T get her dieting!

2. She's already taking the ACE inhibitor which will protect the brain
vasculature and kidneys.

3. Her fasting blood sugar is completely normal and her 2 hour value
after a lot of carbs is good enough.  She is fine.  At her age, the body
becomes much less efficient at using food, but your mom is far from
being diabetic, and there is no reason to worry her unnecessarily. In
fact, you want her to eat!  Many people a bit older than your mom become
anorectic and it is one of the things that causes their mental status to
decline.

--Jenny

http://www.geocities.com/lottadata4u  Diabetes Info

http://www.alt-support-diabetes.org/newlydiagnosed.htm Get Your Blood
Sugar Under Control

That sounds a good way forward to me. It's certainly not a panic situation.

You know her, of course, but is she likely to become unreasonably stressed?
After all, she has a problem, and ought to be thinking about at least
minimising the danger. I'd be well peeved with anyone trying to stop me
getting stressed!

Do you have Gretchen Becker's book around? I found that invaluable whilst my
brother was here, just casually lying around available to be read if he felt
like it. Incidentally, we had almost identical readings to you and your Mum,
after which he acquired my spare meter... His doctor had told him he was
"cured" after he lost some weight, and withdrew his strip prescription.

Nicky.

Chris, my husband is not a diabetic, but there have been a few times
when I have tested him post prandial and he has been over 160.  Those
are short spikes, although he eats more than moderate carbs.

I would have your mother keep an account of her blood levels at the one
hour level and the two hour level to see how she is doing and to bring
those records to the doctor on her next visit.

Perhaps he will give her a glucose tolerance test.

If this is a random number, I would not be worried about it.  If it is
consistent, then there probably is a problem.

keep us informed.

Loretta

--
In tribute to the United States of America and the State
of Israel, two bastions of strength in a world filled with strife and
terrorism.

At 78 she is perfect.