I have a confession to make; I am a "Building Code Nerd." This is a good thing since I am a building inspector, but sometimes I go to extremes. I can't go into a home or a store without noting code infractions. While driving down the road I will point out code violations to my wife. Bless her heart; she plays along by saying things like "oh" or "okay". Fortunately I am not facing her so I don't see her rolling her eyes.

One of the things that I like about the building codes is that they tend to be precise. Let me give you some examples, I don't mind. All references are from the 2006 International Residential Code (IRC).

Doors: Section R311.4.1 of the IRC requires that every dwelling unit have at least one exit door that is a minimum width of three feet and a minimum height of six feet and eight inches. This door cannot lead into a garage, but it does not have to be on the front of the house. Did you know that you don't have to have a front door?

Hallways: Section R311.3 of the IRC states that the minimum width of a hallway is three feet. This requirement makes it a lot easier when you are trying to move that big sofa down a hallway.

Toilets: Figure R307.1 of the IRC states that the center of the toilet bowl must be a minimum of 15 inches from the wall, tub, vanity, etc. This is to prevent the toilet from being placed to close to these objects. You ever try to sit on a toilet that is too close to a wall?  

I realize that by now you are probably totally enthralled with the building codes and are ready to purchase your own copy, but it is time that I move on and get to the point. After recovering from the shock of getting hit by that Mack truck called Type 2 Diabetes, I sought out the standards for controlling my diabetes. Due to my back ground and orientation I expected to find uniform standards.

My doctor told me that my blood sugar range before meals should be 80 to 120 mg/dl, and that my blood sugar should not go up more than 70mg/dl two hours after starting a meal. For me that would have my range after meals at 150 to 190 mg/dl. I then compared my "goals" with the standards promoted by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE). The ADA recommended a pre-prandial (Fasting blood sugar, before meals) of 90-130 mg/dl and the AACE recommended a pre-prandial of <110 mg/dl. My doctor recommended pre-prandial (80 to 120 mg/dl) would put me 10 mg/dl below the ADA recommendation, and would allow me to exceed the AACE recommendation by 10 mg/dl.      

Why was there a difference in the values recommended by my doctor, the ADA, and AACE? Was it OK for me to exceed the AACE recommendation? What's the big deal of maintaining a prolonged difference of a postprandial 10mg/dl? I don't know about with pre-prandial, but I know that "10" can make a big difference in other respects.

My normal body temperature is 98 degrees. If it were 108 degrees my brain would be fried, or at least close to it.