Patients who have weak immune systems are vulnerable to getting shingles and the shingles vaccine is a live vaccine, he added. The study looked at patients with rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis (an inflammation of the spine), or inflammatory bowel disease.
Fasting Blood Glucose (Blood Sugar) Level. A value above 126 mg/dL on at least 2 occasions typically means a person has diabetes. The Oral Glucose Tolerance Test. An oral glucose tolerance test is one that can be performed in a doctor's office or a lab.
Diabetes is treatable, but even when glucose levels are under control it greatly increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. That's because people with diabetes, particularly type 2 diabetes, often have the following conditions that contribute to their risk for developing cardiovascular disease.1  High blood pressure (hypertension). 2  High blood pressure has long been recognized as a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Adults with diabetes are two to four times more likely to have heart disease or a stroke than adults without diabetes. 2  The American Heart Association considers diabetes to be one of the seven major controllable risk factors for cardiovascular disease.