Abstract

Repeated urine examinations on a diabetic patient, estimating only the percentage of sugar, are apt to be misleading and should not be depended upon to give a good index of his diabetic status.The finding of an occasional glycosuria is apt to represent the excretion of only a few grams of sugar in the urine per 24 hours and in that respect it has but little significance. A better procedure is to estimate the actual excretion of sugar per 24 hours in grams. If it exceeds 10 grams per 24 hours, adjustment in the insulin dosage is indicated.A still better procedure for evaluation of the control of the diabetic state is the three times a day blood sugar determination. This plan eliminates the uncertain problem of renal threshold for sugar, which varies in patients. It indicates whether any given routine of treatment is adequate or inadequate and thus enables us to adjust the insulin routing properly.