Showing posts with label Pregnancy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pregnancy. Show all posts

Thursday, January 12, 2012

The Glucose Tolerance Test

Mmm, mmm, glucose!Image by J. Star via FlickrIf you have ever been pregnant, you have probably had to endure the infamous Glucose Tolerance Test.  This test isn’t just for women who are pregnant when they test for gestational diabetes, but this test can be used to check for diabetes in general.  The most common form of this test is done by ingesting a set amount of glucose and then the doctor checking your blood about two hours later. 

In order for this test to work correctly, you’ll have to fast for at least 8 hours prior to the test.  For your comfort and for the best results, have the test done in the morning.  That way, you can eat dinner by 8pm the night before, and then just don’t eat anything before bedtime.  You can get a good nights’ rest and after 7 hours of sleep, go to the doctor first thing in the morning, without eating anything for breakfast of course, and have the test done.  Once you’re out of the test, go get something to eat and get on with your day.  It makes the process really easy and then you don’t have to starve yourself through the day to take the test.  One thing to remember though is that you are going to have to ingest a pretty good dose of glucose, so you might want to drink some water to get your stomach ready.  That way you be able to hopefully keep it down and not have to retake the test on a later date.

Dr. Teichman can point you in the right direction if you need a good doctor to check you out, because if you think you might have diabetes, you need to get checked out by a doctor asap!  If you have this test coming up in your future, though I have never taken the test myself, I have heard good things about the orange flavor of glucose.  Something to think about.

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Thursday, December 29, 2011

What is Gestational Diabetes?

Pregnant Girl Eating CakeImage by o5com via FlickrYou might have heard the term “gestational diabetes,” but what is it exactly?  Well gestational diabetes is what women can get while they’re pregnant, being one of the most common pregnancy complications.  Often, there aren’t any symptoms that women who get gestation diabetes, but rather this condition is detected through screening measures.  Before you run out and see if you have it or not, there are six risk factors that your doctor will take into consideration before having you tested. 

The first risk factor is your age.  If you are older then twenty five years, you are at more of a risk than a women under twenty five.  Your ethnicity also plays a part, with non-Hispanic Caucasian women having the lowest risk than other ethnicities.  If you are overweight before the pregnancy, you run a higher risk and if you had problems with your blood sugar being too high before the pregnancy, chances are you’ll have this condition.  The last two factors are whether your family has a history of diabetes or not, and your previous pregnancy outcomes.  If you developed gestational diabetes in a previous pregnancy, chances are you’ll get it again, or if you had a a baby that weighed more than nine pounds, your risk is higher.

If you want to lower your risk of getting gestational diabetes when you’re pregnant, there are some things that you can do.  The first one is to make sure that you are eating healthy.  If you lower the sugar and carbohydrates, and eat more fiber, you’ll lower you risk.  If you do that before you get pregnant and keep it up during pregnancy, you’ll really lower your chances.  The other way is to be more physically active.  Don’t stop exercising just because you’re pregnant, but keep active.  No you don’t and probably shouldn’t be running marathons, but go for walks, take trips to the mall, park or wherever you like. 

If you have any questions on how gestational diabetes can effect your feet, or just pregnancy in general effecting your feet, contact us at East Penn Foot & Ankle Associates.

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