Have you ever wondered how important your diagnostic lab results are to your Diabetes control? What if by running the right tests, your physician could determine not only where your diabetes stands right now, but also whether it is progressing or reversing? 
Stuart Seale, MD, Medical Director at Lifestyle Center of America and author of the book The 30-Day Diabetes Miracle, has outlined three important tests your doctor needs to do for you and why each test is crucial: Here’s the tests you should be sure your Doctor runs for you.
Lipid Profile
If you have Diabetes and do not get a yearly lipid profile check up, be SURE to ask your doctor about it. This test measures the levels of Total cholesterol, HDL (good) cholesterol, LDL (bad) cholesterol and triglycerides.
Test results will indicate if you’re at risk for artery blockage. The most common artery blockage in the US (and the leading cause of death) leads to heart attacks. Another risk is stroke. Sixty five percent of those with diabetes will die of a heart attack or stroke.
Ideal results are:
a. Total Cholesterol - less than 150 mg%
b. LDL Cholesterol - less than 70 mg%
c. Total Cholesterol : HDL Cholesterol Ratio - 3:1 or less
1/3 of heart attacks happen when one’s cholesterol is between 150 - 180 mg%. So if your numbers are in that range (especially if above it), take immediate steps to lower them.
Fasting Serum Insulin & Blood Sugar Levels
You may have already had one of the tests done. However, the combination of the two is used to calculate Insulin Resistance, and that is key to stopping the progression of Diabetes.
Insulin resistance increases the risk of strokes and heart attacks, can damage the pancreas, eyes and nerve endings, and is a precursor to type 2 diabetes. This test is important in knowing whether your body is getting more resistant to insulin or not. At the very least, you must know what is Insulin Resistance and the ways to reverse it. Because most physicians do not run the tests simultaneously, they may not know how to calculate the results. Ask your doctor about it, be vocal.
25-hydroxy Vitamin D level
Most adults have suboptimal levels of Vitamin D (anything less than 40 ng/ml of 25-hydroxyl Vitamin D). Suboptimal levels will put you at risk of developing type 1 and type 2 diabetes; depression; psoriasis; and cancers of the skin, colon, breast, prostate, ovaries, and lymph glands. Other manifestations of vitamin D deficiency include osteoporosis, high blood pressure, and multiple sclerosis. Vitamin D deficiency can lead to lack of energy which is prevalent in people with Diabetes.
Be sure to ask your doctor for the 25-hydroxy, not the 1,25-hydroxyl Vitamin D test, as the second test is not completely accurate. The most effective way to treat Vitamin D deficiency is with a supplement such as cholecalciferol.
Its up to you
The three powerful tests outlined above can help you and your doctor preemptively stop the progression of your diabetes. That being said, the results can outline areas of improvement, but it is up to you to make changes that will stop diabetes in its tracks and start reversing its progress. Get started, right now.
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Diabetes is not a Disease, but UNCONTROLLED DIABETES certainly is.
Diabetes is neither a disease nor it is contagious; still this metabolic disorder is threatening the well being of millions of people around the globe and devastating the physical, social and economic welfare of virtually every country in the world. More than half of the diabetic population in the world who are unaware that they are affected by the disorder are already progressing towards acute and irreversible complications of this disorder.
Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disorder, which results in having too much glucose in the blood, caused by a deficiency or ineffectiveness of a hormone called insulin which is secreted by the pancreas. The complications arising out of uncontrolled diabetes don't spare any organ of the body thus wholesomely damaging eyes, kidneys, heart and blood vessels. India has around 60 million 'known' diabetics, more than any other country, and is swiftly growing towards astronomical figures.
Keeping the magnitude of the problem in mind, Diabetes & Heart Care Clinic, in association with Thyrocare (the world's largest testing laboratory) brings to you, a unique profile called SugarScan™. SugarScan talks about the wellbeing of all vital organs of the body. The profile has been specially designed packaging all those tests that give a complete picture that is necessary to be known for effective screening or monitoring of diabetes. We provide 'SugarScan' to the common man at a very affordable rate with out compromising on its quality. 
Components of SugarScan
(Click thumbnail image on right to view a complete list of all the tests included in the SugarScan profile)
With SugarScan you get tested for a set of over 34 tests in 7 test profiles. All with just one painless blood sample.
Cardiac complications are one of the commonest causes of deaths among the diabetic patients leading to arteriosclerosis and cardiac failure. SugarScan contains two sets of cardiac profiles, which clearly does a risk assessment of an individual at higher risk of developing cardiac diseases.
Lipid Profile helps to determine the risk of arteriosclerosis and coronary heart diseases. In this, the LDL (bad cholesterol) is directly estimated which gives an accurate and a far better way of the lipid status.
Cardiac Risk Markers: This contains four risk factors, viz. Apolipoprotein A and B, high sensitivity CRP and Lipoprotein A. These markers have been extensively researched during the recent years. They help to determine the risk of developing coronary heart disease among the patients who have a family history.
The second most commonly affected organ in diabetic patients is kidney, the vital organs of the excretory system. Renal Profile and Kidleak includes some very useful biochemical markers, which can indicate the early development of any type of kidney function disturbances.
Iron Deficiency Profile : Deficiency of iron is important to detect, as it can lead to anaemia. Anaemia is nothing, but inadequate supply of oxygen to the cells, which is indicated by haemoglobin level. Iron deficiency is the most common cause of anemia in India. It is important to detect anaemia, as it is easily preventable by adequate diet and treated by medication.
Liver Profile : Liver Profile measures various molecules in the blood reflecting whether the liver has been functioning normally or not and thereby helping us to measure the liver injury, which may be either an inflammation or infection.
Most importantly, SugarScan includes a memory test for diabetic patients known as HbA1c, which is a much superior indicator of diabetic status than routine blood sugar and provides the average blood glucose level for the previous three months. Lower the value of HbA1c, lower is the risk of complications related to diabetes. HBA1c is highly recommended by the American Diabetic Association.
Get tested today. A healthier life, its in your hands.
* Special Rates for limited time only!
Contact Details:
Dr.R.Ravindranath M.D.
Diabetes & Heart Care Clinic
H2, Turnbulls Road, First Cross Street (On Chamiers Road, Next to Canara Bank), Nandanam, Chennai - 600035
Ph: +91 (044) 24355368 | +91 9381047102
