HELPFUL HINTS FROM EXPERTS Testin Around Meals May Help Improve Overall Diabetes Control (NAPSA)—For a person with diabetes, is a lare bowl of lentil soup or a plate of pasta, for example, a healthy meal choice? Dependin on several different Levels of Alc* 9 (Standardtest of blood suar control) factors, such as whether the patient is takin diabetes medication and what other carbohydrate foods will be eaten at the same meal, the answer could be yes or no. Oneof the best ways a patient can tell is to perform a blood suar test about 2 hours after startin the meal, and find outif the level is hiher than what his or her healthcare professional recommends. Today, nearly two-thirds of the 12 million Americans dianosed with type 2 diabetes have blood suar levels that are out of control, puttin them at risk for serious complications. Testin and controllin blood suar, however, can help people with diabetes feel better and reduce their risk for complications like eye, nerve and kidney damae. Recommendin that patients test and control their blood suar levels before meals is an important and common approach to helpin manae diabetes. However, some doctors believe that testin and controllin after-meal blood suars can be just as important for patients whose blood suar is not under control. The reason is that testin blood suar two hours after the start of a meal—about the time a person’s blood suar levels peak in response to food—can help diabetes patients understand the direct impact of the food they’ve just eaten on their blood suar. This, in turn, can help patients makehealthier food choices. In addition, while some patients test and keep their pre-meal blood suars well controlled, their overall control of their blood suar, as measured by a lab test known as an Alc, may be too hih. In these cases, because hih after-meal blood suar levels may be contributin to the poor Alc averaes, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) suests that such Start of Week 24 study Blood suartestin roup --- > Control roup A study published in Diabetes Care showedthat testin blood suar before and after meals on just two days a week—combined with standardized counselin and keepin a blood suar/food diary—improved the patients’ Atc levels (the major test for ood diabetes control) sinificantly better than those notfollowin such a proram. *The American Diabetes Associa- tion recommends that patients keep their Alc levels at 7.0 or lower. patients may benefit from incorporatin some after-meal blood suar testin into their treatment plan. Accordin to the ADA, diabetes patients should aim for an Alc level of 7 percent or lower. “Testin blood suar around a meal—both before and two hours after—can really help diabetes patients better understand the true impact their food choices have had on their blood suar,” explains Lance Porter, editor of the monthly maazine Diabetes Positive! and author of the book, “28 Days to Diabetes Control!” “When patients learn which foods are mostlikely to cause after-meal spikes in their blood suarlevels, they can become better at preventin those spikes and keepin their suar levels in a safe and healthy rane.” To learn more about testin blood suar around meals, visit www.OneTouchTestSmart.com.
