Diabetes And Driver's License Restrictions?

Diabetes and Driver's License Restrictions?

Have you ever wondered what the exact rules are, when it comes to diabetes and driver's license restrictions? We sure do, every time news stories pop up about unsafe driving involving PWDs (people with diabetes).
We looked into this, and essentially learned that state laws differ; a comprehensive review by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) a few years ago shows that roughly half the states at the time had no required restrictions, while the other half had restrictions that were enacted into law.
Questioning Myself
Before we get into the specific laws, I'd like to share the fact that twice in my own life, I've gone low while driving and experienced dangerous scares that made me question whether I should even have a license and be on the road at all.
The first was in my late teens not long after my high school graduation in 1997, long before I became an insulin pumper. I ended up swerving on the road and eventually getting pulled over by police in a parking lot. Thankfully, no accident occurred and no one was hurt.
The second incident was about a decade ago, still before my CGM (continuous glucose monitoring) days. As a result of a fast-dropping blood sugar that didn't show itself with an in-the-moment fingerstick at work, I had a "sudden" hypo that led me wandering from my office in a daze into the parking garage. I apparently climbed into my my red Ford Escape and began driving towards home. I ended up in front of my subdivision in a ditch, after taking out a street sign with my car. Luckily (incredibly so!), no one was injured that time either. The latter inspired me Continue reading

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Urine test for diabetes: What you need to know

Urine tests can check for a range of things, including blood in the urine, infection, and other systemic conditions. They are frequently used for diagnosing and monitoring diabetes.
In this article, we look at types of urine tests for diabetes and how to understand the results.
Contents of this article:
What is a urine test for diabetes?
Urine tests are important for both the diagnosis and monitoring of diabetes. Urine testing is less accurate than blood testing but is useful as a screening test for people who already know they have diabetes.
Urine tests can also be used to check for glucose in the urine of people who are undiagnosed.
A urine test will be looking for three things: glucose, ketones, and protein.
Glucose
Having glucose in the urine may indicate diabetes, although it can also be caused by other conditions. For example, pregnant women who do not have diabetes may have glucose in their urine.
Glucose is not normally found in urine, but it can pass from the kidneys into the urine in people who have diabetes.
Ketones
Ketone is a chemical that the body produces when there is a shortage of insulin in the blood. It is a by-product produced when the body starts to break down body fat for energy.
The presence of ketones in a person with diabetes may indicate a high blood glucose level, usually because a person with diabetes cannot use glucose as energy and has to use fat instead. Ketones in the blood can then spill into the urine.
Ketones in the urine are more common in people who have type 1 diabetes but can occur in those with type 2 diabetes as well.
Protein
A docto Continue reading

Diabetes & flu: a devastating combination

Flu hits diabetes patients hard – nurses and GPs can help improve vaccination rates
‘I remember the fever and fatigue as being unbearable,’ recalls Maximino Álvarez, a diabetes patient who has had flu twice. ‘It is an unpleasant experience which should be avoided.’
Flu infection can be serious for anyone but for people with chronic diseases, such as diabetes, the risk of hospitalisation can be as much as ten times higher than the rest of the population.
‘Anything that affects your health has an impact on your diabetes,’ explains Maximino. ‘With flu, your blood sugar levels are affected and it becomes difficult to keep it under control. Resistance to fast-acting insulin is a frequent effect of influenza infection.’
Dr Xavier Cos, a GP specialising in diabetes care, says people with diabetes are more severely affected by any respiratory tract infections and can suffer serious complications as a result.
‘The reaction to the infectious process often exacerbates their metabolic disease,’ he says. ‘In many cases, they are also not as well able to fight the infection so a cascade of consequences can follow – just as in older people or those with chronic lung or kidney diseases.’
Vaccine-prevent diseases
Flu and pneumococcal disease – both of which can be prevented by vaccination – are serious respiratory diseases that can increase the risk of hospitalisation. ‘Epidemiological data tells us that people with diabetes who suffer from flu or other respiratory problems are at higher risk of hospital admission and likely to spend more days in hospital, Continue reading

You can avoid pre-diabetes with small changes to your diet

Charity Diabetes UK estimates that up to 11.5 million people in the UK are at a high risk of developing it.
This statistic is backed up by research published last year in online medical journal BMJ Open which estimates a third of UK adults are at the stage known as pre-diabetes.
If you’re one of them or think you might be, the main thing to know is that pre-diabetes can be reversed.
In fact, it takes only simple lifestyle changes to cut your risk of going on to develop Type 2 diabetes.
So what does the term mean?
Although not a medically recognised condition, pre-diabetes is a term used when a person’s blood glucose levels are higher than normal, yet not high enough for the full diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes.
Being told you have pre-diabetes serves as a warning that you’re at increased risk of developing the condition.
It has other health implications, too, for example it raises risk of cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks and stroke.
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If you’re diagnosed with pre-diabetes (also called impaired fasting glucose or impaired glucose tolerance) but don’t have any signs of Type 2 diabetes, you’re likely to be seen every one to three years by your doctor, depending on your blood sugar levels.
Now’s the time to take steps to reduce your risk.
Diabetes UK is encouraging people to find out their level of risk of developing Type 2 and whether they have pre-diabetes.
There is a quick Know Your Risk quiz on the charity’s website (diabetes.org.uk/r Continue reading

Got pre-diabetes? Here’s five things to eat or avoid to prevent type 2 diabetes

Pre-diabetes is diagnosed when your blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to be classified as having type 2 diabetes. Pre-diabetes is an early alert that your diabetes risk is now very high. It is ten to 20 times greater compared to the risk for those with normal blood sugars. What you choose to eat, or avoid, influences this risk.
Diabetes Prevention Programs
Studies around the world, including Finland, China and the US have shown diabetes prevention programs prevent or delay progression to type 2 diabetes. When people eat more healthily, drop their body weight by 5-10% and walk for 30 minutes a day, five days a week, they lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by about 58% over two years.
We recently gave 101 men with pre-diabetes a self-directed diabetes prevention program over six months. We found they were able to reduce their portion size of potato and meat and improve their variety of health foods. They were able to reduce the proportion of energy coming from junk food by 7.6% more than the group who didn’t change their diet and got a four-point increase in their scores from the Healthy Eating Quiz. These improved eating patterns were associated with an average weight loss of 5.5kg and better blood sugar regulation.
This is great news for the 318 million adults around the world, including two million Australians, who have pre-diabetes.
The original diabetes prevention studies started in the 1980s. Back then the advice was to reduce your total kilojoule intake by eating less fat, especially from take-away, processed and fried foods and Continue reading