Diabetes Monitor - is 52 mg/dL [2.6 mmol/L] normal?

is 52 mg/dL [2.6 mmol/L] normal?

Remember that the information presented here is not intended to replace the care of your own doctor. Before making any changes in the management of your own illness, you should consult your physician or other qualified medical professionals.

Question

My 13 year old son's father has diabetes, and there's also a history of diabetes on my side of the family. He had his glucose checked on a meter which was 52 mg/dL [2.6 mmol/L]. Is this normal? I Should I be concerned about the possibility of diabetes?

Answer

The risk of a child developing type 1 diabetes diabetes if the father has diabetes is approximately 6%. If the mother has type 1 diabetes, the risk is about 3%.

Diabetes is diagnosed when fasting plasma glucose levels exceed 126 mg/dL [7 mmol/L] and when a random blood glucose exceeds 200 mg/dL [11.1mmol/L]. Please not that these results must be confirmed by laboratory retesting, and blood needs to be drawn from a vein.

A blood glucose of 52 mg/dL [2.6 mmol/L] actually sounds a little low and is not indicative of diabetes, but you do not describe of when it was taken (i.e., When was the last meal? Was the child fasting? Had the child just finished a bout of exercise?).

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