Get to know your fasting blood sugar

Do you know your fasting blood sugar number? It's the key to preventing prediabetes and diabetes. Kevin Soden, MD, explains the anti-aging benefits of managing your blood sugar and makes a case for having it tested.

Transcript

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Old school medicine says you should get your blood sugar checked at 45. Earlier, if you're overweight or underactive.

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Hi. I'm Dr. Kevin Soden. Here's something I bet you don't know about your health. It's a number that could help you

00:19

keep your body and your mind younger and sexier. That vital number is your fasting blood sugar,

00:26

which is what doctors look at when they're checking for diabetes. But even though rates of blood sugar problems are going up fast, not enough people are being tested early.

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Old school medicine says you should get your blood sugar checked at 45. Earlier, if you're overweight or underactive, or if you do

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have high blood pressure or a family history of diabetes. But an impressive recent study of 325,000 people

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suggests that even if you have no known risk factors, getting tested as young as 30 could result in detecting diabetes up to six years sooner.

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That's huge. It buys you time to avoid diabetes complications, like nerve damage, heart attacks, kidney failure,

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blindness, sexual problems, and dementia. Getting tested earlier also spots pre-diabetes, so you can change your eating habits

01:14

and exercise more to help prevent full-blown diabetes. What are you waiting for? Ask your doctor about having your blood sugar tested.

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For more ways to boost your health, watch and share all our Smart Tips right here. [AUDIO LOGO]