Diabetic Seniors

Screening for diabetes is extremely important if you are in a high risk demographic.

Finding out that you are a diabetic is a life altering event. Ask anyone who has diabetes, and they can likely tell you what was going on in their life, and more interestingly, their feelings and reactions as they adapted to a new way of living. Not surprisingly, if you were to ask if diabetes was an expected diagnosis, many of them would reply, “No”.

Type 1 Diabetes Screening

In the not so distant past, diabetes was a little understood disease, but since the mid 1990’s, there has been a great deal of advancement in understanding diabetes’ causes and the effects. Ironically, this greater understanding does not show enough cause for early diabetes screening—especially in the case of Type 1 Diabetes. However, as Type 1 Diabetes (called Juvenile Diabetes until 1997) is usually diagnosed soon after its symptoms are manifested, early screening for diabetes would only be useful in less than 0.5%. Also, there is  little agreement on a course of action were a positive Type 1 Diabetes result be found due to pediatric screening for diabetes. At present, there is extensive research being done to find a way to prevent Type 1 Diabetes.

Type 2 Diabetes Screening

Most often screening for diabetes is done when a person meets a minimum of 4 basic criteria. These established diabetes screening conditions are:
1.    Age
2.    Weight
3.    Race
4.    Family Medical History
5.    Developed gestational diabetes
6.    Amount of physical activity
7.    High blood pressure

Usually, regular screening for diabetes is not begun until age 45 or pregnancy in adults, but due to the rise of obesity in children and young adults, diabetes screening can be performed as early as 10 years old. In adults diabetes screening should be done every 3 years and in children, screening should be done every 2 years.

How is Diabetes Screening Done?

The most widely used methods of screening for diabetes is the fasting plasma glucose test and the oral glucose tolerance test. Due to its lower cost and convenience, the fasting plasma glucose test is the most used diabetes screening method. If an initial fasting plasma glucose test results are higher than 126 mg/dl, then a second test will be scheduled for an alternate day. If the results of the second fasting plasma glucose test are also 126 mg/dl or higher then an oral glucose tolerance test is planned. Should the results for the oral glucose tolerance test be 200 mg/dl, then a positive diagnosis of diabetes will be given on a different day.
In spite of medical advancement, early detection of diabetes is still not as practical as many would like. However, should you have any of the conditions mentioned earlier, you should talk to your about doctor about diabetes screening. Even if a positive diagnosis is the result, you are still one step closer to living life to its fullest potential—diabetes and all!

Tags: diabetes, diabetes prevention, diabetes screening, diabetic seniors, screening for diabetes