Blood Glucose Level

Here is the latest Get Fit email from Dr. Jacobs.

One Thing I Bet You Don't Know About Yourself
It's not your bank balance, your weight, or your pants size. It's a number that could help keep your body younger and sexier. And your mind, too.

That vital number is your fasting blood sugar, which is what doctors look at when they're checking for diabetes. Yet even though rates of blood sugar problems are going up faster than the mosquito count at a picnic, we'll bet you don't have any idea what your number is. Why? Not enough people are being tested early.

Old-school medicine says you should get your blood sugar checked at 45, earlier if you're at high risk (overweight, underactive, have high blood pressure or a family history of diabetes). But an impressive new study of 325,000 people suggests that even if you have no known risk factors -- zero, zilch -- getting tested as young as 30 could find diabetes up to 6 years sooner. That's huge. It buys you time to avoid diabetes complications which, trust us, nobody wants. They include nerve damage, heart attacks, kidney failure, blindness, sexual problems, and dementia. Getting tested earlier also spots pre-diabetes, meaning you can prevent it by getting more physical and eating much smarter (cutting saturated and trans fats, sugars and syrups, grains that aren't 100% whole, and portion sizes).

If you were born anytime between the late 1960s and 1980 -- and grew up in the decades that brought us disco music, the first man on the moon, big hair, and the phrase "totally awesome" -- ask your doctor about your blood sugar. Knowing this number could keep your health totally awesome for years. (From RealAge.com)