Fasting blood sugar (FBS) measures blood glucose without eating or drinking any liquids other than water for eight hours. It is often the first test done to check for prediabetes anddiabetes.
After fasting, a carbohydrate metabolism test is conducted which measures blood glucose levels.
When fasting the hormone glucagon is stimulated and this increases plasma glucose levels in the body.
If a patient doesn’t have diabetes, their body will produce insulin to rebalance the increased glucose levels.
However people with diabetes either don’t produce enough insulin to rebalance their blood sugar (typically in type 1 diabetes) or their body is not able to use the insulin effectively enough (typical of type 2 diabetes).
Consequently when blood glucose levels are tested, people with diabetes will have blood sugar levels significantly higher than people who do not have diabetes.
Fasting test results
The results of a fasting test with respect to glucose levels in the body are as follows:
• Normal: 3.9 to 5.5 mmols/l (70 to 100 mg/dl)
• Prediabetes or Impaired Glucose Tolerance: 5.6 to 7.0 mmol/l (101 to 126 mg/dl)
• Diagnosis of diabetes: more than 7.0 mmol/l (126 mg/dl)
A person can wake up with a FPG of 130 mg/dl (7.2 mmol/L), but if it drops after breakfast and most hours of the day are spent with blood sugars that remain under 120 mg/dl, the person can expect years of complication-free living.
In contrast, a person may wake with a normal FPG of 98 mg/dl (5.4 mmol/L) but end up spending the next 14 hours with blood sugars well over 170 mg/dl (9.4 mmol/L). That person is seriously at risk for heart disease, diabetic nerve damage, kidney damage, and retina damage.
Dawn Phenomenon.
If your blood sugar is highest first thing in the morning, and normalizes after you eat or exercise and stays normal hours after dinner, you may have a disturbance of regulatory hormones that is called “dawn phenomenon.”
If your blood sugar is highest first thing in the morning, and normalizes after you eat or exercise and stays normal hours after dinner, you may have a disturbance of regulatory hormones that is called “dawn phenomenon.”
Our bodies prepare for waking up by secreting stimulating hormones shortly before dawn. These increase our insulin resistance in order to raise blood sugar a small amount. If we were animals who had to go hunt for our first meal, that excess glucose would be useful. Since we are people with refrigerators, it is less so.
Everyone experiences this early morning hormone burst, but in people with diabetes it can become highly exaggerated. In some people it is resistant to any treatment, but once the person goes about their day and eats, the blood sugars become more controllable.
If you have dawn phenomenon that doesn’t respond to variouslowering techniques, don’t panic. As long as you are spending most of the day with your blood sugars at a safe level (Always under 140 mg/dl and under 120 mg/dl as much as possible) you’ll be fine.
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