ralph said:
Note that the last item in your list of points is actually out of date. The fasting blood glucose level that defines diabetes has been redefined in the past couple of years downward to 126 mg/dL.
he didn't actually write "fasting blood glucose is >140 mg/dL". when you go into the doctor (or EMT) and get a finger stick, that's NOT fasting blood glucose. fasting means first thing in the morning when you haven't eaten all night. it's pretty common for nondiabetics to have a blood glucose level of 140 mg/dL after eating, or sometimes higher. even if it's higher, something else, other than diabetes, might be wrong. or you might've just visited starbucks and had a frappacino. all that sugar DOES go somewhere you know.
simon said:
In one place you list overweightness as a warning sign of diabetes. In another place you say that diabetes causes unexpected weight loss. You say that a quick sugar hit is the solution for insulin shock. Yet I have read diabetics saying that candy is deadly to them.
simon, being overweight CAN LEAD TO type ii diabetes (not type i) but isn't a warning sign of type ii diabetes. most overweight people don't develop diabetes. but if you are at risk for type ii because of your family history, you should avoid becoming overweight.
i know it's confusing but if an overweight person you know suddenly, inexplicably and rapidly starts losing weight, THAT'S a sign of diabetes. to oversimplify it: STEP 1: you have a tendency toward type ii diabetes; STEP 2: you become overweight; STEP 3: you develop type ii diabetes; STEP 4: you then lose weight rapidly.
type i diabetes is mostly (probably) not caused or triggered by overweightness.
the sugar/insulin thing confuses a lot of people but it's really quite simple: you need insulin to balance your sugar. you need sugar to balance your insulin. the diabetic's life is essentially a non-stop effort to keep the two in perfect balance: not too much insulin, not too much sugar. if you overbalance and have too much insulin, it's called "hypoglycemia" or insulin shock. then you take sugar to correct it. if you overbalance and have too much sugar, it's called "hyperglycemia" or diabetes. then you take insulin to correct it.
janet said:
turns out that a family history of Graves' is a risk factor for type 1 diabetes, and more generally a family history of any type of autoimmune disease (MS, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.) is a risk factor for developing any other type. Autoimmune diseases are not all that well understood, and the idea of treating them as a specific class of diseases is pretty recent, so doctors don't always understand the significance of this when taking family histories.
i'm a type-1, juvenile onset, and i've also developed hypothyroid (NOT hypERthyroid or hyperactive thyroid) as well as vitiligo. the thyroid and vitiligo are related to the type one diabetes in a fairly simple way: the isles of langerhans, the tissue of the thyroid gland, and the melanocytes (that produce melanin) are all attacked by the immune system and partially or completely destroyed.
Losung (no umlaut) does mean password. The full form would be Losungswort, but Losung itself is correct. I can't help you with confirming the other definitions, but here's a handy link to an online dictionary:
http://dict.leo.org/?lang=en
--Anon
Take care of yourself, Teresa.
I can't come close to the penguin picture, but here is a small dose of silliness. Click on link for "Cat Bowling."
(Warning: this site requires flash and is somewhat noisy.)
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