Controlling blood sugar and reaching A1C goals
Over 34 million people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and nearly half are failing to achieve their A1C goals. Learn the cause of high blood sugar and how the A1C test can help you manage your blood glucose.
Transcript
[MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: Nearly half struggle to control their blood sugar and are not achieving their A1C goal. If you are one of these people, it
can be helpful to first understand what causes high blood sugar and how it relates to A1C.
When you eat a meal, sugar enters your blood. That's OK as long as the levels don't get too high.
At very high levels, sugar builds up in blood and tissues and becomes toxic. Control over blood sugar starts with your pancreas.
One of its big jobs is to make insulin whenever blood sugar rises. Usually soon after a meal.
Insulin stimulates cells throughout the body to move sugar out of blood and use it for energy.
If you have type 2 diabetes, your body either has trouble using insulin or cannot make enough of it,
so your blood sugar stays higher than it should, even between meals. Monitoring your blood sugar is the key to managing type
2 diabetes. A blood sugar meter can be used to check your levels daily or as needed. However, your doctor will use the A1C blood test
to measure your average blood sugar over a period of two to three months. High blood sugar alone doesn't always mean uncontrolled.
In type 2 diabetes, there are two main ways the beneficial effect of insulin is lost.
Insulin resistance followed by diminished insulin production, these are the main causes of high blood sugar.
If A1C is high, it means that one or both of these malfunctions are occurring.
Insulin resistance is when insulin is less able to stimulate cells to take sugar out of blood.
It's usually the first thing that happens on the road to diabetes. Your A1C number will be high because sugar levels
are high on a daily basis. It's also possible that the overworked pancreas no longer produces enough insulin.
The combination of insulin resistance and diminished insulin production are the main causes of high A1C in type 2 diabetes.
Medications play an important role in gaining control over A1C, but eating healthy foods
and getting regular exercise are just as important for regulating blood sugar. In diabetes, everyone is different.
type 2 diabetes
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