- Dr. Susanne Zimmermann,M.D.
Family Practice
susanne@doctorzimmermann.com
General Information
Overview Dr Susanne Zimmermann
Specialties:
Family Medicine
Certifications:
Family Medicine - Board Certified
Affiliations:
Jersey Shore University Medical Center
Education and Training:
Medical School - UMDNJ - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Residency - Somerset Medical CenterHigh Blood Pressure
The only way to tell whether you have high blood pressure is to have it measured with a blood pressure cuff (sphygmomanometer).This device consists of a gauge and a rubber cuff that is placed around your arm and inflated.
Having your blood pressure measured is painless and takes just a few minutes.
Blood pressure (BP) is classified as follows:
Normal BP -
Systolic less than 120 mm Hg; diastolic < than 80 mm Hg
Prehypertension -
Systolic 120-139 or diastolic 80-89 mm Hg
High BP -
Stage 1 - Systolic 140-159; diastolic 90-99 mm Hg
Stage 2 - Systolic more than 160; diastolic > than 100 mm HgDiabetes
Causes, incidence, and risk factors
Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas to control blood sugar. Diabetes can be caused by too little insulin, resistance to insulin, or both.To understand diabetes, it is important to first understand the normal process by which food is broken down and used by the body for energy. Several things happen when food is digested:
A sugar called glucose enters the bloodstream. Glucose is a source of fuel for the body.
An organ called the pancreas makes insulin. The role of insulin is to move glucose from the bloodstream into muscle, fat, and liver cells, where it can be used as fuel.
People with diabetes have high blood sugar because their body cannot move sugar into fat, liver, and muscle cells to be stored for energy. This is because either:
Their pancreas does not make enough insulin
Their cells do not respond to insulin normally
Both of the above
Type 1 diabetes can occur at any age, but it is most often diagnosed in children, teens, or young adults. In this disease, the body makes little or no insulin. Daily injections of insulin are needed. The exact cause is unknown.
Type 2 diabetes makes up most of diabetes cases. It most often occurs in adulthood, but teens and young adults are now being diagnosed with it because of high obesity rates. Many people with type 2 diabetes do not know they have it.
High blood sugar levels can cause several symptoms, including:
Blurry vision
Excess thirst
Fatigue
Frequent urination
Hunger
Weight loss
Because type 2 diabetes develops slowly, some people with high blood sugar have no symptoms.
Symptoms of type 1 diabetes develop over a short period of time. People may be very sick by the time they are diagnosed.
Signs and tests:
Your health care provider may suspect that you have diabetes if your blood sugar level is higher than 200 mg/dL. To confirm the diagnosis, one or more of the following tests must be done.
Blood tests:
Fasting blood glucose level -- diabetes is diagnosed if it is higher than 126 mg/dL twice. Levels between 100 and 126 mg/dL are called impaired fasting glucose or pre-diabetes. These levels are risk factors for type 2 diabetes.
Hemoglobin A1c test --
Normal: Less than 5.7%
Pre-diabetes: 5.7% - 6.4%
Diabetes: 6.5% or higher
Sometimes the inconvenient, oral glucose tolerance test is used. Diabetes is diagnosed if glucose level is higher than 200 mg/dL after 2 hours carbohydrate intake. (This test is used more often for type 2 diabetes.)
Screening for type 2 diabetes in people who have no symptoms is recommended for:
Overweight children who have other risk factors for diabetes, starting at age 10 and repeated every 2 years
Overweight adults (BMI greater than 25) who have other risk factors
Adults over age 45, repeated every 3 years
Treatment:
There is no cure for diabetes. Treatment involves medicines, diet, and exercise to control blood sugar and prevent symptoms and problems.
source: PubMed HealthGovernment
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- Web: doctorzimmermann.com