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If You Think You Might Have Diabetes

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If you think that you might have diabetes then ask you doctor about the following tests:

Fasting blood glucose – This is the traditional blood test for diabetes and it is part of a routine yearly physical. The very new guidelines are to further evaluate any fasting blood sugar over 90 mg/dL.

Hemoglobin A1C – This blood test which is sometimes included in a yearly physical, measures a person’s average blood glucose level over a 2 – 3 month period. A result of 4.5% to 5.9% is considered normal. A result of 6-6.5% indicates pre-diabetes; over 6.5% indicates frank diabetes. Some experts feel that a 5.6% or higher is a possible sign of pre-diabetes.

Oral glucose tolerance test – You are basically given a sugary drink and then monitored with blood tests given before the drink and 2 hours after consumption of the drink. A result of 140mg/dL is considered pre-diabetes, 160 - 200 mg/dL is considered strong indicator for possible diabetes and a result of 200 mg/dL is considered full-blown diabetes.

Talk to your doctor about whether you need to be tested.