The patient notes increased feelings of pain in bilateral lower extremities in the last three months. This feeling is a common form of diabetes neuropathy which causes leg pain and weakness. Diabetes neuropathy is a nerve-related disorder caused by diabetes. Quantitative research show that about 60-70% of individuals with diabetes develop some degree of neuropathy (Kahn, Cooper & Del Prato, 2014). Diabetic neuropathy can also occur in the lower and upper extremities leading to pain and weakness in the legs or arms. The patient weighs 103.2 kg with a body mass index (BIM) of 35. The patient’s weight is above the normal weight and can be attributed to the cause of diabetes. The BMI is a screening for obesity or overweight and can be an indicator of high body fatness. A BMI of 30 or higher falls within the obese range and is a risk factor for diabetes. The patient also admits to not exercising. Lack of physical exercise is also a predisposing factor for diabetes. This information is important as it helps in the management and treatment of diabetes (Kahn, Cooper & Del Prato, 2014).
Diagnostic Tests
Several diagnostic tests can be used to make diagnosis for this particular patient. The glycated hemoglobin (A1C) test is used to indicate the average level of blood sugar. An A1C of 6.5% or higher indicates that an individual is diabetes. An A1C between 5.7 and 6.4% indicates that a person has prediabetes while an A1C level below 5.7 is considered normal (Dabelea, et al. 2014). The patient’s hemoglobin A1C level was 8.5% which indicated that she was diabetic.
A random blood test can be used as a diagnosis test for diabetes. Regardless of what an individual ate last time, a random blood sugar level of 200mg/dL -11.1 mmol/L or higher suggests diabetes. The patient’s downloaded meter information showed that the patient’s reading throughout the day were between 180mg/dL and 230mg/dL with no hypoglycemia in recent months. Any individual with a BMI of higher than 30 is considered obese and has a higher risk of developing diabetes (Dabelea, et al. 2014). The patient’s BMI is 35 which can be attributed to her diabetes condition.
References
Dabelea, D., et al. (2014). Trends in the prevalence of ketoacidosis at diabetes diagnosis: the SEARCH for diabetes in youth study. Pediatrics, 133(4), e938-e945.
Kahn, S. E., Cooper, M. E., & Del Prato, S. (2014). Pathophysiology and treatment of type 2 diabetes: perspectives on the past, present, and future. The Lancet, 383(9922), 1068-1083.
