Читать книгу Diabetes For Dummies - Рубин Алан Л. - Страница 15

The numbers that are used to diagnose diabetes don’t begin to reflect the human dimensions of the disease. People end up with test results after days, months, or even years of minor discomforts that reach the point where they can no longer be tolerated. The next few stories of real (though renamed) patients can help you understand that diabetes is a disease that happens to real people – people who are working, relaxing, traveling, sleeping, and doing many other things that make life so complex.

Sal Renolo was a 46-year-old black-belt judo instructor. Despite his very active lifestyle, he was not careful about his diet and had gained 16 pounds in the last few years. He was more fatigued than he had been in the past but blamed this fatigue on his increasing age. His mother had diabetes, but he assumed that his physical fitness would protect him from this condition. However, he could barely get through a one-hour class without excusing himself for a bathroom break. One of his new students had diabetes, and he suggested to Sal that he ought to have the problem checked, but Sal insisted that he could not possibly have diabetes with all his activity. The symptoms of fatigue and frequent urination got worse, and Sal finally made an appointment with the doctor. Blood tests revealed a random blood glucose level of 264 mg/dl (14.7 mmol/L). The following week, another random blood glucose was 289 (16.0 mmol/L). The doctor told Sal he had diabetes, but Sal refused to believe it. He left the doctor’s office angry but vowed to lose weight and did so successfully. On a repeat visit to the doctor, a random glucose was 167 mg/dl (9.3 mmol/L). Sal told the doctor that he knew he didn’t have diabetes, but his resolve to eat carefully didn’t last, and he was back six weeks later with a glucose of 302 mg/dl (16.8 mmol/L). Finally, Sal accepted the diagnosis and started treatment. He rapidly returned to his usual state of health, and the fatigue disappeared.

Debby O’Leary’s active sex life with her husband was continually being interrupted by vaginal yeast infections, which resulted in an unpleasant odor, redness, and itching. Over-the-counter preparations promptly cured the condition, but it always rapidly returned. Finally, after three of these infections in two months, she decided to see her gynecologist. The gynecologist told her she needed a prescription drug. The cure lasted a little longer this time, but the infection promptly returned. On a return visit, the gynecologist did a urinalysis and found glucose in her urine. A random blood test showed a glucose of 243 mg/dl (13.5 mmol/L). He sent her to an internist, who ordered a variety of tests including a fasting blood glucose, which was 149 mg/dl (8.3 mmol/L). The doctor told her she had diabetes and recommended exercise and diet change to start with. She followed his advice, and as a result she not only lowered her blood glucose to the point that she no longer developed yeast infections but also lost weight and increased her energy, making her sex life with her husband even more satisfying.