Diagnostic Tools for Diabetes

Diagnostic Tools for the Treatment of Diabetes in Adults

Introduction

Diabetes is a disease that has become very popular in the society today. It affects both the young and the old. Diabetes is a condition when the body experiences the inability to produce or to consume insulin. This hormone is secreted by the gastric glands from where it is released to aid the transport of glucose to the cells. It contains chemical elements which make the cells absorb the glucose. Diabetes can be classified into type 1 and type 2. The former occurs when the patient is diagnosed to be insulin resistant or has lower insulin levels; thus, the energy that is absorbed by the body is lower, and the patient might then require insulin. Type 2 diabetes occurs when glucose is not absorbed by the cells, and hence, accumulates in the blood vessels. This denotes that there is an excess of glucose in the body; therefore, certain measures of regulating the glucose level have to be undertaken.

There are several symptomatic characteristics of diabetes which include extreme thirst, frequent urination, blurry vision, extreme hunger, increased tiredness, and drastic weight loss. However, due to the scientific research, new diagnostic tools for treatment of diabetes in adults have been discovered. These diagnostic tools lead to the effective diagnosis of diabetes, and thus, play a pivotal role in the administration of medical care. This paper gives a synopsis of the use of hemoglobin A1C as a diagnostic tool in the screening and prediction of diabetes in adults. It is based on the extensive research of the American Diabetes Association.

Hemoglobin A1C

The A1C test involves drawing a small amount of blood from the body and analyzing the concentration of red blood cells which have the glucose molecules attached. This reflects the concentration of glucose or sugar in the blood. During the time frame of two to three months, the test gives a weighted average of blood glucose flow over the stated period. If the test results of A1C read 6.5% or higher, this would ultimately indicate diabetes while the range of 5.7% to 6.4% reflects the stage of prediabetes for a person. In the research conducted by ADA, the percentage of 5.7% and above have an increased risk of diabetes onset in the future. The occurrences of type 2 diabetes have grown in the United States by 13%. Therefore, it is important to identify persons who have not been diagnosed with diabetes or those who are prone to diabetes in the future and subject them to screening in order to prevent the spread of diabetes, control it and also to raise the people’s awareness about it.

The A1C test provides a reliable measure of chronic glycemic control. It is effective since it does not need fasting and time sampling. In addition, it correlates well with the risk of the complications connected with long term diabetes and mortality in adults. Therefore, A1C is an efficient test for the diagnosis of diabetes in adults. The results of the A1C test can be deemed to meet the accuracy threshold at the rate of 91%, according to the findings of the American Diabetes Association (ADA).

There are various benefits of using A1C test as compared to other tools. Firsly, the test is better associated with chronic complications than EPG.  Secondly, fasting is not required in the testing of A1C. Additionally, A1C remains unperturbed by such issues or stimuli like stress, diet and exercise.

However, there are certain disadvantages in the use of A1C as a diagnostic tool in diabetes. One of these is that A1S is a poor marker of important pathophysiological abnormalities featuring diabetes. The application of this tool also eludes a large proportion of asymptomatic early cases of diabetes that can only be defined by the OGTT. It is also more expensive to conduct the A1C test as compared to the glucose assay.

Conclusion

Adults may seek to know the reason why they have diabetes or how they acquired it, and the hemoglobin A1C test provides these answers through the study of generic composition of the patient.  Therefore, adults are able to know whether they have a hereditary form of diabetes due to the nature of the generic composition in their family or lineage. Consequently, they can also make decisions on how to avert the situation or control it in their children. The tool is also useful since it gives hope to live for those affected by giving guidelines and outlining proper restitute measures of health. Diagnostic tools also help in averting misdiagnosis which has dire consequences. The hemoglobin test aids those who are at risk of being diagnosed with diabetes in the future due to their weighted average readings to put measures in place for the control or identification of ways of averting diagnosis through better living and improved diet. Therefore, due to the scientific research, we have better ways and tools to assist in the diagnosis of diabetes, and this is instrumental in improving the health standards in the universe in which we seek to raise the standards of living.

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