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That's really no surprise, sir. It's what we've been telling you for a number of weeks now.

Good for you, though. ;-)

You have ALREADY prevented pre-diabetes.

an A1C of 5.5 is NORMAL, and a "finger prick" test of 85 is TOO LOW.

Keep doing what you are doing, but eat a little bit more carbs to keep you blood sugar in the range iof 90 - 120

Hi there!

I'm a pharmacy student in my last year of a 6-yr program, and I'd love to help. Your fasting blood glucose and A1C were in a range that not only doesn't qualify as diabetes, but you're also below the threshold for PRE-diabetes, as well!

Your A1C should be below 5.7%, which is considered normal. Prediabetes would be from 5.7% - 6.4%. Diabetes is defined as having an A1C of 6.5% or greater.

In order to diagnose diabetes, fasting blood glucose levels are at or above 126. From 100-125, one would be considered to have pre diabetes, and if blood glucose is less than 100, you are normal.

A high fasting blood glucose means that your body can no longer store and break down the sugar you eat. (Remember too that carbohydrates get converted directly to sugar!) So when we eat carbs or sugar, a patient with diabetes will see an increase in the amount of sugar in the blood, whereas someone without diabetes will keep a normal glucose level because their body knows how to deal with it. A normal body will store the glucose from the blood into the cells or will break it down. Again, a normal fasting blood glucose is less than 100.

An A1C is a measurement of what the AVERAGE blood glucose levels have been over the past 90 days. It's a good way to get an idea of what the overall sugar levels have been rather than just one isolated reading.

So the good news is that you don't have diabetes OR prediabetes! Unfortunately, we can't change family history. However, what you CAN do is maintain a healthy weight and exercise regularly. Include lots of fruits, vegetables, and lean protein, while limiting trans fat and sugary foods/sweets. One of the best ways to prevent pre diabetes from developing into diabetes is by losing weight, because a lot of the people we see with prediabetes are overweight or obese.

Depending on your risk factors, your doctor will most likely be testing you again in the near future. Generally, this is about 6 months.

Good luck with everything!

I found out how thumbs work.