“What is used to test for diabetes?”
My doctor suspects that I have diabetes and has referred me to get tested for it. What are the diagnostic tests for diabetes?
8 Answers
Normal blood glucose is between 70 – 100 mg/dL or 80 – 110 mg/dL depending on the lab. A blood test is used to check diabetes. Hemoglobin A1c is the test used besides measuring your blood sugar level on empty stomach. Thank you.
Most common test is hemoglobin A1c which is a 3 month average of your glucose control. Other tests like random sugar above 200 also confirms diabetes.
Blood test.
Your doctor may first collect a urine sample from you. If that is suggested, then a fasting blood sugar will be requested. You must not eat or drink after midnight and have the test done first thing in the morning. If there is still a question, you may have to undergo a glucose tolerance test for a few hours. You will be given a load of glucose, usually a liquid, then your blood is tested at intervals to see how y our body processes glucose. Good luck.
RB Thomas, MD
RB Thomas, MD
Usually fasting blood sugar (FBS), but now we have patients with normal FBS, but abnormal post-meal. Suggest blood sugar test 2 hours after meal and HBA1c for confirmation.
To diagnose diabetes, blood samples for testing are required.
Testing for diabetes can be easily done on a drop of blood from a fingerprick test. We measure blood glucose , which should never be more than 200 mg/dL. We can also get a blood glucose average estimate from a hemoglobin A1c test performed on a drop of blood. This test reflects the glucose profile representing 2-3 months and should be less than 6.5 %.
There are 2 simple tests & more complicated ones such as an oral glucose tolerance test. Start with the simple ones 1) a fasting blood sugar test. This is simple and could be done with a simple finger stick in the Dr. office and is the first thing to do. 2) a HbA1c test. This also can be done with a finger stick in some offices or by venous blood in a commercial lab. It tells you what your average blood sugar has been over the last 3 mo. The oral glucose tolerance test consists of drawing blood fasting then drinking a heavy sugar solution the getting a blood sugar at intervals up to 3 hrs. That's not a lot of fun & is not needed in most people. I haven't done one in the last ten yrs. to diagnose anyone. The fasting blood sugar & Hb1c test should let you know if you have or have not gotten diabetes.
