Did you know that an accurate A1c is a reliable predictor of your risk for heart attack even if you don’t have diabetes?

Did you know that approximately one-third of all people with diabetes have not been diagnosed? They don’t even know their condition let alone their A1c.

Did you know that 32% of the over 14 million people diagnosed with diabetes in the USA go more than a year between A1c checks if at all vs. the 1 - 4 minimum A1c checks per year as recommended by the standard diabetes care guidelines?

So, suggesting that you “Know Your A1c” is a message that we could use some help delivering. Thanks to the Diabetes Care Coalition, more people will hear and see this good advice.

Now that you know your A1c, we can make progress together toward reducing risk based on a proven program that considers the patient, the family, the home environment and the patient’s medical team. Through a process we call Measure, Understand and Act, people begin to associate their daily choices with how it effects their blood sugar levels (as measured by HomeCheck A1c). Consequently, better choices usually mean lower A1c’s with measurable results usually within 30 - 60 days. And wouldn’t you like to know if all the hard work you’re doing is improving your health and reducing your risk profile (we measure risk changes via HomeCheck A1c)?

Did you also know that getting your A1c doesn’t depend on a person making an appointment to visit their doctor or taking time off to go to a lab? Based on the data we have collected in clinical trials, we know that even if you know your A1c, unless you understand how to make the right choices every day and take action, your health isn’t going to improve. People taking responsibility for their own health includes getting the tools you need.

Our technologies and healthcordia programs make it easier to get started toward better health and get the feedback needed to understand progress; simply, conveniently, confidentially and accurately. And without requiring you to take time off from work or school and wait in a small room holding your breath avoiding this season’s colds and flu’s.

More accurately then, I would prefer we think about this as a continuum; 1) Know Your Risk (via HomeCheck A1c), 2) Create Your Plan (with help from our healthcordia educators, healthcordia education and your regular medical team), 3) Measure Your Progress (follow-up HomeCheck A1c results), 4) Understand Cause & Effect (with help from healthcordia) and 5) Take Action.

This is the next in a series of article excerpts by me discussing all forms of diabetes and metabolic syndrome and which were originally published in the Caller Times and reposted here with permission. You can also download an mp3 file of me reading this article here.

Eating healthy? Are you sure?

… Clear and dark regular sodas are equal in calories, assuming that the amount served is the same. Sugar-free food products don’t contain added sucrose (table sugar) but can be loaded with calories from other nutrients, such as fat. In other words, “sugar free” does not mean “calorie free.”

The take-home message: Read the label.

The recommended amount of fruit juice for a toddler is between 4 and 6 ounces a day. Anything more is excessive. The children’s meal at McDonald’s in 2007 is was what was sold to adults in 1971. French fries are considered “vegetables” by the USDA and, yes they are the No. 1 vegetable given to American toddlers.

So think twice when you tell the doctor that you eat healthy. Make better choices and work to change your lifestyle habits and those of your kids.

The rest of this article is posted in the archives at the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. Registration is required using your email address and a password that you select and manage.