Quick Tips About Controlling Your Diabetes: Understanding Your Blood Sugar

If you live with diabetes, self-care is critical.  By focusing on just 3 key areas, most diabetics can stay healthy and keep their diabetes under control. The 3 areas are:  Blood sugar, Blood pressure, and Cholesterol. Today we will discuss blood sugar.

Blood sugar levels vary depending on when your last meal was, and/or when your last insulin injection was, or what your activity level is or has been.  For that reason, most doctors use a measure of blood sugar called HbA1C, or A1C for short, to give them an idea of how well the patient is controlling their blood sugars.  A1C is a measure of a person’s blood sugar over the previous 3 months, and is a number that typically ranges from 4-12. 

Most people with diabetes should aim for an A1C of 7.0 or lower.  Your doctor may check your A1C (a blood test) every 3 to 6 months. You should also continue to check your blood sugar levels using your glucose monitor as directed by your doctor, and record these numbers, as well.

In the next tip, we will examine the issue of high blood pressure, or hypertension, as it affects diabetics.

By Cindy Cloud, RPh, CGP (Certified Geriatric Pharmacist) , Volunteer (teacher) at
Bethesda Community Clinic, and available to talk to your group of elders about
medications.

http://BethesdaCommunityClinic.org
107 Mountain Brook Drive
Suite 100
Canton, GA 30115
678-880-9654

Hours:
M,Th - 8:30 am - 5:00 pm (Low Cost Care and Labs, walk-ins welcome)

Tuesday: 12 - 8pm

F - 8:30 am - 12:00 pm (Low Cost Care and Labs, walk-ins welcome)
Sat - 9:00 am - 1:00 pm (Free Health Care for pre-qualified Cherokee County Residents.  Click here to learn about how you can pre-qualify.)