Am I suffering from diabetes?
 

I am a 55 years old male. I have a history of type 2 diabetes running in my family. My weight is under control and I exercise regularly. Four years ago my blood sugar was 6.5 mg/dl and now I have brought it down to 6.2 mg/dl. Indian doctors do not consider me diabetic but a French doctor says I have type 2 diabetes. Can you tell me which out of this is correct? What precautions should I take, other than avoiding sugar? Is it possible to correct my sugar level through diet and exercise?

Hi Johny . . .

Of course you have to rely on the diagnosis from doctors in your own environment . . . but just for your information, in Canada you would be considered to be in the high-normal range and the doctor would probably want to keep an eye on things on a regular (likely quarterly) basis. "Normal" is considered to be between 4 to 7 (that's about 72 to 126 for our US friends).

Since your weight is controlled and you exercise regularly perhaps you should take a look at your dietary choices . . . are you eating a lot of simple carbs -- things made from white sugar, white flour, white rice? Perhaps you should be on the lookout for more complex carbs -- whole grains and brown rice and not too many sweets. Do you eat a lot of junk food (real problem in North America) which is usually very high in both fat and simple carbs. Do you eat at regular intervals -- diabetically considered to be every 3 to 5 hours? Balancing your carbohydrate intake fairly evenly over the day is important in controlling blood glucose levels, too.

Take a look at some of the stickies at the top of our forum for links to both the Canadian and American Diabetes Association websites for some in-depth guidelines.