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A Drug-Free Solution to Elevated Blood Triglycerides
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High Blood Triglycerides: Don't Mess with Diabetes
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Elevated blood triglycerides is the most common lipid disorder in people with diabetes.
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If you are a diabetic, monitoring your triglycerides is essential as they have been identified as an important risk marker for coronary heart disease due to atherosclerosis (blood vessel problems), which in turn can lead to macrovascular complications such as strokes, heart attacks, and limb amputations. Poor sugar control in type 2 diabetes directly increases triglyceride levels (Hyperlipidemia and diabetes mellitus. Mayo Clinic Proceedings 73:969–976, 1998).
Therefore, in order to prevent heart and blood vessel disease, correcting your blood triglyceride level should be your priority.
All diabetics need to recheck their blood lipids regularly, every 2 - 3 months.
Type 2 diabetes is a nasty, degenerative illness which will gradually and slowly suck the life out of you and contribute to a miserable existence.
It can damage many of the body systems leading to such serious medical complications as
Diabetes is associated with one-third of the heart attacks and two-thirds of the strokes.
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- heart disease (heart attack, stroke) - the most common consequence
- cataracts and/or glaucoma, leading to blindness (due to retinopathy)
- repeated urinary tract infections (UTIs)
- kidney damage
- erectal impotence (in men)
- amputations from gangrene and/or from damage to nerves (neuropathy).
Among the urologic complications of diabetes mellitus, the most common form of organic sexual dysfunction in male diabetics is erectile impotence (up to 75 percent of male patients who had diabetes for 15 - 20 years suffer from this).
Approximately 25 percent of over 18 million diabetics in the United States will develop foot problems and 6 to 10 percent will undergo amputation.
Diabetics spend more time in the hospital for foot complications than for all other aspects of their disease combined.
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Preprandial (Before Meal) Blood Sugar Levels
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Current medical standards state that diabetes is formally diagnosed at fasting blood sugar level of 126 mg/dL, or 6.93 mmol/L.
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Your 8-hour fasting (preprandial) blood sugar is normal if it's 70 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL), or 3.88 millimoles per liter (mmol/L), to 100 mg/dL, or 5.55 mmol/L.
If your fasting blood sugar level is between 100 mg/dL (5.55 mmol/L) and 125 mg/dL (6.87 mmol/L), you are considered pre-diabetic.
Some clinics, however, as a biomarker of coronary heart disease, risk use a fasting blood sugar of 90 mg/dL (5 mmol/L) or higher.
Insulin Levels
With fasting insulin levels, the lower the better. Below 5 uU/ml is good, but 2 or 3 uU/ml would be far better.
Although most physicians use fasting insulin levels of over 15 uU/ml to diagnosetype 2 diabetes or insulin resitance, any fasting insulin level over 10 uU/ml is a major problem and is a serious risk factor for diabetes.
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Measuring Blood Glucose (bG): Mg/dL Vs. Mmol/L
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There are two main methods of describing concentrations: by weight, and by molecular count. Weights are in grams, molecular counts in moles (a mole is 6.23*10^23 molecules).
In both cases, the unit is usually modified by milli- or micro- or other prefix, and is always "per" some volume, often a liter.
This means that the conversion factor depends on the molecular weight of the substance in question.
- mmol/L is millimoles/liter, and is the world standard unit for measuring
glucose in blood. Specifically, it is the designated SI (Systeme
International) unit. "World standard", of course, means that mmol/L is used
everywhere in the world except in the US (a mole is about 6*10^23 molecules);
- mg/dL is milligrams/deciliter, and is the traditional unit for measuring bG (blood
glucose). All scientific journals are moving quickly toward using mmol/L
exclusively; however, mg/dl won't disappear soon, and some journals now use mmol/L as
the primary unit but quote mg/dl in parentheses, reflecting the large base of
health care providers and researchers (not to mention patients) who are
already familiar with mg/dl.
Since Full of Health is an international website, it's polite to quote both figures when you can.
Most discussions take place using mg/dL, and no one really expects you to pull out your calculator to compose your article. However, if you don't quote both units, it's inevitable that many readers will have to pull out their calculators to read it.
Many meters now have a switch that allows you to change between units. Sometimes it's a physical switch, and sometimes it's an option that you can set.
To convert mmol/L of glucose to mg/dL, multiply by 18.
To convert mg/dL of glucose to mmol/L, divide by 18 or multiply by 0.055.
These factors are specific for glucose, because they depend on the mass of one molecule (the molecular weight). The conversion factors are different for other substances such as triglycerides and cholesterol.
PLEASE NOTE: Reflectance meters have a some error margin due to both intrinsic limitations and environmental factors, and that plasma readings are 15 percent higher than whole blood (currently, most meters are calibrated to give plasma readings, thus matching lab readings), and that capillary blood is different from venous blood when it's changing, as after a meal.
So round off to make values easier to comprehend and don't sweat the hundredths place. For example, 4.3 mmol/l converts to 77.4 mg/dL but should probably be quoted as 78 mg/dL or 80 mg/dL.
Similarly, 150 mg/dL converts to 8.3333... mmol/L but 8.3 is a reasonable quote, and even just 8 would usually convey the meaning. We usually talk in approximations anyway.
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Glycated Hemoglobin (HbA1c) Test
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Most diabetic specialists feel HbA1c is the single most important blood test for known diabetics.
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Even if you test your own blood glucose daily you will still need the glycated hemoglobin test. This test, also called "hemoglobin A1c" or "glycohemoglobin" and sometimes incorrectly referred to as "glycosylated hemoglobin test", is an important “quality control” test used to determine how well diabetes is being managed. The most commonly performed fasting blood sugar test does not reflect the true picture of diabetic control over a long period of time. It only measures the level of sugar in the blood at the moment it is taken from the finger or arm.
HbA1c test is used primarily to monitor the overall blood glucose (sugar) control of diabetics for the past two to three months. Periodic determinations of glycated hemoglobin provide an accurate time-averaged reflection of patient glucose levels and the effectiveness of the control of diabetes.
This test was introduced as a routine test in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It measures how much glucose is spontaneously attached to hemoglobin A cells - the primary form of hemoglobin in adults and the part of the blood carrying oxygen in the red blood cells. As the hemoglobin floats around in the blood, it picks up glucose in about the same proportion as the glucose that exists in the bloodstream. This combination of glucose and hemoglobin A is called HbA1c, or glycohemoglobin. HbA1c levels do not change quickly but will shift as older red blood cells die and younger ones take their place. Since the red blood cells have a 120-day life span in the body before they are recycled, the "glucose coating" of a sample of hemoglobin can be measured.
The HbA1c test results are generally expressed as a percentage of total hemoglobin. For people without diabetes, the normal range is between 4 and 6 percent. For most people with diabetes the HbA1c goal should be less than 7 percent, according to the American Diabetes Association. In other words, if the HbA1c number is less than 7, blood glucose control is “good.” An HbA1c number higher than 8, or between 7 and 9, means that your glucose control is “average” so you need to take action as you are at a greater risk of developing eye disease, kidney disease, or nerve damage.
A number greater than 9 means your diabetes control is “poor,” meaning that your blood glucose is too high and you are at serious risk of developing the long-term diabetes complications. In other words, the closer a diabetic can keep the HbA1c to 6 percent, the better his or her diabetes is in control. The poorer the glucose control, the higher the HbA1c result will be. Therefore, lowering the HbA1c number – by any amount – can improve the chances of staying healthy.
Frequency of HbA1c testing depends on 1) the type of diabetes, 2) how well diabetes is controlled, and 3) on a doctor. The American Diabetes Association recommends testing HbA1c:
- 4 times each year - if you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes and use insulin, or
- 2 times each year – if you have type 2 diabetes and do not use insulin, or
- more frequently – if your diabetes control is not good.
Because HbA1c test measures average glycemia it will not reflect temporary, acute blood glucose increases or decreases in someone with “brittle diabetes,” also known as “unstable diabetes,” or “labile diabetes” - when a blood sugar level often swings quickly from high to low and from low to high. It can result in some individuals only achieving their treatment goal at the expense of a poor quality of life, as a result of frequent, disabling, and unpredictable hypoglycemia.
It should be also noted that there are many factors which may falsely lower HbA1c results, such as anemia, uremia, alcoholism, high levels of blood lipids, and nutritional supplements.
The FDA has cleared for non-prescription use of the HbA1c test for people with diabetes to help monitor long-term control over blood glucose levels. Over-the-counter status means that the test can be purchased without a prescription and used at home. The results are available on the spot.
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Our Customers Write to Us
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May 12, 2006
I’ve been a diabetic for over 10 years. All these years struggling with blood sugar control, recently I was also diagnosed with high triglycerides.
This time, my wife who is also a naturopath, suggested the Formula. But she told me to do the bloodwork first.
On March 25, my results were as follows:
- Glucose serum fasting: 9.5 mmol/L (outside normal limits)
- Cholesterol: 5.00 mmol/L
- Triglycerides: 6.91 mmol/L (outside normal limits)
- HDL cholesterol: 0.77 mmol/L (under normal limits)
- LDL calculated cholesterol: not available due to high triglycerides
- Total cholesterol/HDL ratio: 6.49 (outside normal limits)
About three weeks later my doctor ordered another test. The report from April 13 was much better:
- Glucose serum fasting: 6.9 mmol/L (much lower than before, but still outside normal limits)
- Cholesterol: 4.81 mmol/L
- Triglycerides: 2. 88 mmol/L (much better than before, but still outside normal limits)
- HDL cholesterol: 0.93 mmol/L (better and within normal limits)
- LDL calculated cholesterol: 2.56 (this time available and within normal limits)
- Total cholesterol/HDL ratio: 5.17 (much better, but still outside normal limits)
As I have not changed my eating habits during this period of time, obviously it is the Formula that made such a difference.
Ron Z.
Toronto, Canada
The above testimonial has been reviewed by Full of Health Inc.; however, it is the sole opinion of the listed individual.
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For Advice Or To Place A Phone Order, CALL:  1. 705. 876. 9357 (US/Can)
(Monday - Friday: 10:00 am - 3:00 pm EST, Weekends & Holidays Excluded)
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