Loving Life Summer Edition 2014 Volume 8.7 | Page 4
PREVENTIVE HEALTH
by
Deacon Charles & Kawaniee Flowe
3 John 1:2
New International Version (NIV)
2
Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go
well with you,
even as your soul is getting along well.
In the section below, you will find some important information on diabetes. Please read
it carefully! In addition, we will have packets of information following service at LFCC
during the month of August.
DIABETES INFORMATION
When you eat, some of your food is broken down into sugar (also called glucose). Sugar travels
in your blood to all your body’s cells. Insulin helps sugar move from your blood into your cells.
Insulin is a hormone that is made by the beta cells in your pancreas.
Your cells need sugar for energy. Sugar from food makes your blood sugar level go up. Insulin
lowers your blood sugar level by helping sugar move from your blood into your cells.
When you eat, another hormone made in the gut helps the pancreas produce the right amount
of insulin to move sugar from the blood into the cells. This hormone is called GLP-1. It stimulates the beta cells in the pancreas to release insulin when the blood sugar is too high. 2. It also
helps to lower the amount of sugar made by the liver. 3. There is also a third hormone called
glucagon that tells the liver to release stored sugar if your blood sugar gets too low or if you
have not eaten for many hours, such as overnight.
When you have diabetes:
Your pancreas makes little or no insulin, or
Your body prevents the insulin you do make from working right
As a result, sugar can’t get into your cells. So it stays in your blood. That’s why your blood sugar gets too high (also called hyperglycemia).
There are 4 ways doctors can tell if you have diabetes:
Your A1C is 6.5% or higher
Your fasting blood sugar level is 126 mg/dL or higher. Fasting blood sugar levels means
no food for at least 8 hours prior to checking your blood sugar
The result of your oral glucose tolerance test is 200 mg/dL or higher
You have symptoms of high blood sugar or low blood sugar, and a blood test taken at a
random time shows a blood sugar level of 200 mg/dL or higher