Q. What is diabetes?
A. Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is needed to convert food into energy needed for daily life. The most common type of diabetes in adults is type 2 diabetes, when the body does not produce enough insulin or does not use the insulin properly. Over time, high blood sugar (glucose) levels can damage other organs like the eyes and kidneys and increase a person’s risk for stroke and heart disease. Controlling diabetes is a major key in the fight to prevent heart disease.
Q. How common is diabetes?
A. There are 20.8 million Americans, or 7% of the population, who have diabetes. An estimated 14.6 million have been diagnosed, and 6.2 million people (or nearly 1 in 3) do not know they have the disease. Diabetes is more common in older adults. Among people 60 and over, 20.9% (or 1 in 5) have diabetes.
Q. How do I know if I have diabetes?
A. Two blood tests are used to diagnose diabetes, either the Fasting Plasma Glucose Test (FPG) or the Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT). With the FPG test, a person with a fasting blood glucose level of 126 mg/dl or higher has diabetes. In the OGTT test, a person's blood glucose level is measured after fasting and two hours after drinking a glucose-rich beverage. If the two-hour blood glucose level is at 200 mg/dl or higher, the person tested has diabetes. Both tests require fasting because food significantly increases blood glucose levels.
Q. Which diabetes tests does Life Line Screening perform for diabetes risk?
A. Life Line Screening performs the Fasting Plasma Glucose Test (FPG) from a finger-stick blood sample. Laboratory accurate results are provided in less than 10 minutes at the event.
Q. What is pre-diabetes?
A. Pre-diabetes is when blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. There are 54 million people in the U.S. who have pre-diabetes. Research has shown that some long-term damage to the body, especially the heart and circulatory system, may already be occurring during pre-diabetes. Fortunately, if you take action to manage your blood glucose when you have pre-diabetes, you can delay or prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes, and possibly prevent the onset of heart disease.
Q. How accurate are the Life Line Screening diabetes tests for blood?
A. We use the Cholestech LDX® system for our blood tests. The equipment is FDA-approved and is certified by the Cholesterol Reference Method Laboratory Network. This certification validates that the system meets the gold standards for accuracy and reproducibility developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the measurement of total and HDL cholesterol, consistent with the National Cholesterol Education Program analytic goals. Although there are no nationally accepted guidelines for glucose total error, the Cholestech LDX System provides test results which are consistent with good patient care. Cholestech equipment is used nationwide in physician offices, hospitals and pharmacies.
