Myth 1: Fasting blood glucose is important, and it is usually sufficient to check only fasting blood glucose
Clinically, many patients only focus on monitoring fasting blood glucose in the morning and neglect to monitor blood glucose two hours after meals, which is a mistake.
Human blood glucose is in constant fluctuation throughout the day, and a simple point of blood glucose is not enough to reflect a person’s blood glucose level. Recent studies have confirmed that postprandial blood glucose is even more meaningful than fasting blood glucose.
So, in order to get a more complete picture of blood glucose status so that treatment plans can be more rationally adjusted, patients should have multiple periods of blood glucose monitoring. Of course, patients do not need to monitor their blood glucose at multiple times every day; they can determine a reasonable monitoring regimen based on their condition under the guidance of their physician.
Myth #2: The faster your blood sugar drops, the better
Some people think that the faster your blood glucose drops, the better your treatment is, which is wrong. The patient will experience discomfort and even hypoglycemia, so the best treatment is to lower blood sugar smoothly.
Myth 3: The lower the blood sugar, the better, and it doesn’t matter if you have hypoglycemia
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Overly lowering blood glucose can increase the risk of hypoglycemia, which can be life-threatening in severe cases. For diabetic patients, the danger of hyperglycemia is mainly that it can cause various serious chronic complications and affect the patient’s health, although the danger of hyperglycemia is usually long-term, gradual and not life-threatening for the time being. The dangers of hypoglycemia, on the other hand, are rapid and sometimes even fatal.
Severe hypoglycemia can cause stroke, induce angina, heart failure and myocardial infarction, and worsen a patient’s existing retinopathy. So blood sugar is not as low as it can go, but should be in a more desirable range and avoid hypoglycemia as much as possible.
Myth 4: Normal blood glucose control means diabetes is cured
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Diabetes is a chronic, lifelong disease. To date, diabetes can be controlled but not cured. After continuous conventional treatment, many symptoms disappear completely and blood glucose drops to normal, but this does not mean that diabetes has been cured, and medication should continue to be maintained, while diet therapy and physical exercise should not be relaxed, and medication should not be stopped without permission, otherwise high blood glucose will return and the condition will worsen.
Misconception 5: Diabetes monitoring is only about testing blood glucose
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In fact, the main indicators for monitoring blood glucose control in diabetes include blood glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin. Glycosylated hemoglobin is the most important assessment of long-term glycemic control.
Misconception 6: Although diagnosed with diabetes, if you don’t feel unwell, you can go unchecked and untreated
The correct approach should be that diabetes requires prompt, early formal screening and treatment.
Misconception 7: Blood glucose is already controlled within the normal range, so there is no need for blood glucose monitoring and medication
The correct approach is that diabetes is not currently curable and requires lifelong monitoring and treatment.