Having diabetes can mean learning a whole new set of vocabulary. If you or someone you love has diabetes, you’ll be learning the names of drugs, different tests, complications, and more.
Here are some words and phrases you might run into:
- Blood urea nitrogen: a waste chemical excreted by the kidneys. Above-normal levels can indicate kidney damage.
- Diabetic nephropathy: kidney damage associated with diabetes.
- Diabetic neuropathy: nerve damage associated with diabetes.
- Fructose: a simple sugar that occurs naturally in honey and fruit.
- Glucagon: a hormone that can be injected to raise the blood sugar level of a person with hypoglycemia who cannot eat or drink. It is produced naturally in the pancreas.
- Glucose: a form of sugar that circulates in the blood and is used by the cells for energy.
- Glycemic index: a ranking of foods based on their potential to raise blood sugar.
- HbA1c test: also known as the glycosylated hemoglobin test — a test that looks at blood sugar levels over a two to three month period. The lower your HbA1c level, the lower your risk of developing complications related to diabetes.
- Hypoglycemia: low blood sugar.
- Hyperglycemia: high blood sugar.
- Insulin analog: a synthetic or engineered variation on insulin that has different properties from natural human insulin. They are created by adding, changing, or altering certain amino acids in the insulin molecules.
- Insulin resistance: when the body does not use insulin efficiently, it may initially produce more insulin to try to compensate. Hyperinsulinemia is super-high insulin levels. Hypoinsulinemia is lower-than-normal insulin levels.
- Lactose: milk sugar, made from glucose and another type of simple sugar called galactose.
- Microalbumin: Protein in the urine that can be used to detect kidney damage.
- Sucrose: table sugar, made from glucose and fructose.
This vocabulary list doesn’t cover everything you might encounter if you or someone you love has diabetes. Don’t be afraid to ask for an explanation if your health care professional uses a term you aren’t familiar with!