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category archive listing Category Archives: CFRD Facts

Other various tests for diabetes

Here are a few other tests (by far not all of them) that are important in either the diagnosis of diabetes, or if you have diabetes they are good to have to keep tabs on things.
Random glucose test – This is usually a fingerprick, or done while draining your arm/body of blood for other tests.  [...]

Oral Glucose Tolerance Test

I was about to launch off in a review about an article I read online at the American Diabetes Association regarding two diagnostic tests for diabetes.  But then I realized that it may be more important to give you a bit of a description of the tests before I go spouting off my opinion of [...]

Hot peppers on my feet

Having been to the doctor’s about a billion times in the past few months I have learned a few new things about diabetes that I want to share.  I don’t know where I read it, somewhere said that folks with CFRD do not suffer the same complications as “regular” diabetics.  This is just bullpuckey!  I [...]

“Normal” blood glucose levels

I think this will be very helpful for those who suspect they may have diabetes.  I stole it from my Continuous Glucose Monitor class:
Target values from the American Diabetes Association (ADA)/American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE)
Fasting/before-meal glucose: 90 mg/dL to 130 mg/dL (5.0 mmol/L to 7.2 mmol/L) (ADA);
<110 mg/dL (6.1 mmol/L) [...]

CFRD Fact #14

Complications of CFRD (poorly controlled):
Infections due to decreased white blood cell count phagocystosis.

Phagocystosis is the ability to encourage white blood cells to destroy bacteria.

Increased viscosity of mucus secretions with hyperglycemia and dehydration.

Dehydration is caused by the body trying to flush the excess blood glucose out in the urine.

Increased protein catabolism with CF [...]

CFRD Fact #13

Genotype is predictive of pancreatic status:
Delta F508 (the most common genetic defect in Cystic Fibrosis) homozygous genotype is associated with pancreatic insufficiency in nearly all patients.
This genotype is also at higher risk for CFRD.

CFRD Fact #12

How might early diabetes cause CF clinical decline? It is currently unknown, but here are some theories:

Insulin Deficiency

Insulin is an anabolic hormone which promotes conservation of body protein, fat and carbohydrate stores.

Malnutrition and protein catabolism are clearly associated with death in CF.

CFRD Fact #11

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) classifies CFRD under “other specific types of diabetes” involving diseases of the exocrine pancreas. CFRD shares some features of type 1 and type 2 diabetes but has important clinical distinctions that make its medical treatment and medical nutritional therapy (MNT) unique.

CFRD Fact #10

Weight loss and decline in pulmonary function began 4-6 years before the onset of diabetes.
After two years of insulin therapy,weight returned to levels seen six years earlier and the decline in pulmonary function stabilized.
This suggests a cause and effect relationship between clinical decline and the pre-diabetic state.
Lanng, Diabetic mellitus in Cystic Fibrosis: effect of [...]

CFRD Fact #9

Median Survival Rates in CFRD:
Clinical data was collected at the Minnesota CF Center between 1987 – 2002 from 1,081 Cystic patients with 123 patients having CFRD.

Total Cohort

47.0 Years

Women with Diabetes

30.7 Years

Women without Diabetes

47.0 Years

Men with Diabetes

47.4 Years

Men without Diabetes

49.5 Years

“CONCLUSIONS—Female subjects with CFRD have a remarkably poorer prognosis compared with all male subjects [...]