Give Your Doctor a Checkup

Get the Tests You Need

To stay in control of your diabetes, learn the tests and checks you need -- and make sure your doctor performs them. "I ask my doctors questions -- what tests are being done, what are my results, the target goals, and whether the American Diabetes Association (ADA) targets have changed," says Sharon Linsenmeyer, a Maryland resident with type 1 diabetes.

Each January, the ADA publishes the Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes. Yet statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that people often don't get the preventive tests they need.

Case in point: Most people with diabetes should have an annual eye checkup, yet more than 30 percent of such adults fail to receive a dilated-eye exam.