Help & FAQ

A: This refers to Fasting Blood Sugar. It means that you should not have anything to eat or drink except water for at least 4-6 hours before testing your blood sugar.

A: Diabetes is a condition that affects the body’s ability to use blood sugar for energy. The main types include type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, and gestational diabetes.

A: Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in children and young adults, and was previously known as juvenile diabetes. In type 1 diabetes, the body does not produce insulin. Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes. In type 2 diabetes, either the body does not produce enough insulin or the cells ignore the insulin.

A: This is a form of diabetes that occurs during the second half of pregnancy. Although gestational diabetes typically goes away after delivery of the baby, women who have gestational diabetes, are more likely than other women to develop type 2 diabetes later in life. Women with gestational diabetes are more likely to have large babies.

A: Monitoring your own blood sugar levels with a meter is a good thing to do. It helps you see how food, physical activity, and medicine affect your blood sugar levels.

A: A hormone produced by the pancreas called insulin helps sugar in your blood get into the cells of your body. Insulin is a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy. If your body doesn’t make enough insulin or if the insulin doesn’t work the way it should, blood sugar can’t get into your cells and instead stays in your blood, raising your blood sugar level. When too much sugar stays in your blood for a long time, it can damage blood vessels and nerves. Your cells may be starved for energy. Over time, high blood glucose levels may hurt your eyes, kidneys, nerves or heart.

A: You use a tiny drop of blood and a meter. You should also have your blood sugar checked at a medical laboratory so that you may compare your blood sugar readings. That way you can rest assured that your glucometer is working properly.

A: Self-tests are usually done before meals, after meals, and/or at bedtime. Ask your doctor when and how often you need to check your blood sugar.

A: Yes. The results of both the blood sugar tests that you do yourself and A1C tests help you and your health care team get a complete picture of your control of type 2 diabetes.

A: Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that is naturally present in cell walls or membranes everywhere in the body, including the brain, nerves, muscles, skin, liver, intestines, and heart.

A: Your body uses cholesterol to produce many hormones, vitamin D, and the bile acids that help to digest fat. It takes only a small amount of cholesterol in the blood to meet these needs.

A: If you have too much cholesterol in your bloodstream, the excess may be deposited in arteries, including the coronary (heart) arteries, where it contributes to the narrowing and blockages that cause the signs and symptoms of heart disease.

A: Because high levels of total cholesterol are associated with an increased risk of heart disease, you and your doctor should discuss any treatment options that may be required based on your test results.

A: Infection, inflammation, or injury to the urinary system may all be causes of blood in the urine. For example, kidney stones, infections of the urinary tract or genitals, blood clotting disorders, some medicines such as blood thinners, antibiotics, and analgesics, injury to the upper or lower urinary tract, as in a car accident or a bad fall.

A: Yes this is possible if exercise is too Strenuous, especially running – results from repeated jarring of the bladder.

A: The prostate is a glandular organ present only in males. It lies at the neck of the bladder and in front of the rectum. The prostate surrounds the urethra, which is a tubular structure that carries sperm and urine out of the penis. It produces a thin, milky fluid that is added to the sperm at the time of ejaculation.

A: You will need to visit your physician who will do a physical examination of your reproductive organs including the rectum. He may refer you to a medical laboratory to have a test called a PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen).