As the trucking industry continues to lure new drivers into the vocation with promises of high wages and an exciting career, the fact is that with a woeful average annual salary of just $38,000 and fourteen hours a day, a driver can easily work thousands of hours per day. year and only average a rate of just over $8.00 per hour.
Combine this with a lack of adequate sleep and rest, poor choices in the availability of healthy foods, along with general social abnormalities of lifestyle, it is no wonder many health experts consider professional truck driving to be one of the deadliest jobs in the United States. .
As the industry focuses on the importance of moving freight on time, drivers are forced to reach for high-calorie, high-carbohydrate junk food for a quick snack, and often have to eat it while racing down the road. Thanks to the 14-hour rule, diabetes among truck drivers is estimated to be on the rise.
When one searches for a guide to proper blood sugar levels, several charts with very different ranges can be found, leaving many in a state of confusion:
- Source 1:
Fasting = 70-110
1 hour after meal = 90-150
2 hours after food = 80-140
3 hours after food = 60-110
This same source also advises the following “Acceptable” ranges:
Fasting = 60-120
1 hour after meal = 80-180
2 hours after food = 70-150
3 hours after meal = 60-130
- Source 2:
Fasting = 80-140
1 hour after meal = 100-160
2 hours after meal = Less than 180
- spring 3:
Fasting = 70-100
2 hours after food = 70-140
This source also provides changes in blood sugar levels, depending on your age:
2 hours after the meal:
Less than 140 (50 years or younger)
Less than 150 (50-60)
Less than 160 (60 years or older)
A well-known leading source for diabetes lists the normal fasting range as 70-130 but, however, if the reading is higher than 126, then a diagnosis of diabetes is made. After 1 or 2 hours of a meal, they show the range to be less than 180. They go on to state that during a “random” test, if the reading is 200 or higher, diabetes is also diagnosed.
I decided to put these charts to the test and after taking my own personal fasting reading, my blood sugar level showed 112, putting me as “in control” in the example above as well as source two, but not “in control”. according to source one and three, although according to source one the reading of 112 is “acceptable”.
One hour after eating a high-sugar meal, my level hit 235, and according to the example above, as with all sources, it placed me as high or “no control.” Two hours after eating, my level was found to be 127, “in control” according to all the above sources.
Finally, three hours after my last meal, my blood glucose reading was 109, acceptable with all the above sources… except for one final guideline.
Confusion of blood glucose levels
All of my readings, every one of them, from fasting to three hours after a meal, show up as high or “uncontrolled” according to another guideline provided by the American Truck Drivers Diabetes Association.
To summarize the final results of my tests, my fasting reading failed according to the source but, at the same time, it was “acceptable”. It was also ok through source two but failed with source three and it was fine with main source but failed with ATDDA.
My one hour reading failed by all sources and the two and three hour readings were acceptable by all sources except ATDDA.
So what exactly are the normal control ranges for blood glucose levels in diabetics? According to the ATDDA, the confusion stems from the attempt to separate normal blood sugar levels between diabetics and non-diabetics.
They maintain that normal glucose levels are the same for both individuals:
Fast = 70-90
1 hour after meal = 140 or less
2 hours after meal = 120 or less
3 hours after meal = Less than 100
High blood sugar levels lead to complications in diabetics, who do not have diabetes themselves. These complications include heart and kidney disease, stroke, neuropathy, blindness, and amputations. Many of these assorted guidelines are not as strict about maintaining lower blood sugar levels or take into account the abnormal lifestyle of the professional truck driver.
Following a guideline closer to what a diabetic’s blood sugar level should be will greatly reduce the risks of these complications. One must be concerned with staying as close to the “normal” range as possible, and that range is defined by the ATDDA.
