The Star Online: Lifestyle: Health
The Star Online: Lifestyle: Health |
| Posted: 27 Dec 2011 11:15 PM PST This is the concluding article on how to read blood and urine test results. DURING my recent medical check-up, the doctor mentioned that my blood sugar seemed a little high. He wanted me to come back and do another blood test. How do we measure our blood sugar? If you look at your blood investigation results, you will see the word "glucose" somewhere in there. This stands for your blood sugar. Your blood glucose is best tested when you are fasting. This means it's best you take your blood sugar test early in the morning, before you've had breakfast (or at least eight hours without food). Your blood test results may appear like this: FBS (Fasting Blood Sugar) – 80mg/dL. Normal levels: 70 to 99 mg/dL (3.9 to 5.5 mmol/L) If you have a level between 100 and 125 mg/dL (5.6 and 6.9 mmol/L), this may mean impaired glucose tolerance, which is a pre-diabetes condition. If you have a fasting blood glucose level of 126 mg/dL (7.0 mmol/L) or higher on more than one testing occasion, this may mean that you have diabetes. You may also see RBS, which stands for Random Blood Sugar. It is not taken during fasting, and can be taken any time of the day. Its normal range is between 70 and 140 mg/dL (2.9 and 7.8 mmol/L). Anything between 140 and 200 mg/dL is pre-diabetes, and anything above 200 mg/dL is diabetes. What is HbA1C? Is it some sort of haemoglobin? Yes, it is. It's actually Haemoglobin A, the adult Haemoglobin. The 1C denotes the type of Haemoglobin A that it is, meaning the type of glucose that is bound to the main Haemoglobin molecule. But it doesn't measure how much haemoglobin you have in the blood. The "Hb" on your report is reserved for that. HBA1C measures the amount of glucose present in your blood for a period of time. Therefore, it is a measurement of pre-diabetes or diabetes. Doctors also use it to monitor how well diabetics have been controlling their blood sugar over time, as some "try" to cheat the system by fasting overnight to secure a good Fasting Blood Sugar result! The higher your blood glucose concentration, the higher your HBA1C. In normal people, it should be less than 7%. In my blood test result, what does Urea and Cr mean? This is your blood biochemistry result. Doctors write it as BUSE, Cr (Blood Urea Serum Electrolytes, Creatinine), or sometimes BUN (Blood Urea Nitrogen). Urea is a measurement of your kidney function. Urea is one of the by-products of metabolism (when proteins are broken down). The normal ranges are 2.9 to 8.9 mmol/L. High levels may mean kidney impairment, or a host of other diseases which you should not attempt to diagnose yourself, because your symptoms (if any) should be taken in consideration with other factors. Examples include gastrointestinal bleeding, dehydration leading to hypovolaemia (less fluids), congestive heart failure. Cr (Creatinine) is another test to measure your kidney function. Creatinine is a more powerful tool to measure kidney impairment than Urea, because your blood Urea can be affected by other things, such as the volume of your blood. But Creatinine also denotes muscle damage, and can be high in rare conditions where there is extensive muscle destruction. Normal Creatinine levels are 0.7 to 1.3 mg/dL for men and 0.6 to 1.1 mg/dL for women. What about my Electrolytes? Is an imbalance dangerous or are they just for show? No, they are not just for show. Na (Natrium, or Sodium) stands for the salt concentration level in your blood. Normal ranges are 135 to 145 mEq/L. Levels that are too high may mean dehydration, or several other conditions. Low levels may mean loss of sodium through excessive vomiting, diarrhoea or rare conditions. Skewed levels of K (Potassium) is even more dangerous than Sodium. Normal ranges are between 3.7 and 5.2 mEq/L. There are many causes of high potassium, and one common cause is if you eat too many potassium-containing compounds in your diet, such as bananas. Potassium levels that are too high are a cause for alarm, because they can interfere with your heart conduction mechanisms and cause abnormal heart rhythms, leading to impaired heart pumping and heart failure. Dr YLM graduated as a medical doctor, and has been writing for many years on various subjects such as medicine, health advice, computers and entertainment. For further information, e-mail starhealth@thestar.com.my. The information contained in this column is for general educational purposes only. Neither The Star nor the author gives any warranty on accuracy, completeness, functionality, usefulness or other assurances as to such information. The Star and the author disclaim all responsibility for any losses, damage to property or personal injury suffered directly or indirectly from reliance on such information. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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