3 Diabetes Tests You Must Have
Mike Ellis was fly fishing when he first noticed a change in his vision. Ellis, an avid angler, had so much trouble focusing he struggled for 20 minutes before he was finally able to get a fly on his hook, something he'd done countless times over many years of fly fishing. Then, after casting his line, he was unable to see his lure on the water. "I thought I'd scorched my eyeballs from being out in the sun too much," says Ellis, 63, a retired mechanical engineer in Denver. An eye exam the following month revealed an equally unsettling reality: Ellis had type 2 diabetes, the most common type of the disease. Years of going undiagnosed had taken a toll on his eyesight. He had diabetic retinopathy. The blood vessels in the back of his eye were damaged, a problem that often comes with the condition. "Diabetes damages every blood vessel in your body, including the ones in your eyes," says Robert Rizza, MD, professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic. "Similar damage can also occur in your heart, your head, and your kidneys. But if you take care of yourself -- if you control your blood sugar, blood cholesterol, and blood pressure -- the chances of bad things happening to you are very low." Certainly, that's the case with Ellis. With the help of three basic tests, he has his diabetes in check. These tests can help you, too. A simple blood test, the A1c (your doctor may call it "glycosylated hemoglobin") is done on a sample of blood taken from a finger-stick or from a small vial of it drawn from your arm. Not to be confused with the daily at-home monitoring that allows some people with diabetes to measure their blood sugars in the moment, the A1c test paints a picture of your average blood sugar level for the past 3 months. If you can keep your hemoglobin A1c in the range of about Continue reading >>
Glucose Screening And Glucose Tolerance Tests
Why do I need a glucose screening test during pregnancy? Most healthcare practitioners routinely recommend a glucose screening test (also called a glucose challenge test or GCT) between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy to check for gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes is a high blood sugar condition that some women get during pregnancy. Between 2 and 5 percent of expectant mothers develop this condition, making it one of the most common health problems during pregnancy. And because the condition rarely causes any symptoms, testing is the only way to find out whether you have it. Like any screening test, the GCT won't give you a diagnosis. Instead, it's designed to identify as many women as possible who may have a problem and need more testing to find out. So a positive result doesn't mean that you have gestational diabetes. In fact, only about a third of women who test positive on the glucose screen actually have the condition. If you test positive on the screening, you'll need to take the glucose tolerance test (GTT) – a longer, more definitive test that tells you for sure whether you have gestational diabetes. Your practitioner may want you to be screened earlier than 24 weeks if a routine urine test shows a lot of sugar in your urine or if you're considered high risk. If the results are normal, you'll be screened again at 24 to 28 weeks. Of course, if you were diagnosed with diabetes before pregnancy, you won't need to be screened. Instead, you'll continue to work with your practitioner to manage your condition during pregnancy. How is the glucose screening test done? When you arrive for the test, you're given a sugar solution that contains 50 grams of glucose. The stuff tastes like a very sweet soda pop (it comes in cola, orange, or lime flavor), and you have to Continue reading >>
Diabetes - Tests And Checkups
See your diabetes doctor for an exam every 3 to 6 months. During this exam, your doctor should check your: Blood pressure Weight Feet See your dentist every 6 months, also. Your doctor should check the pulses in your feet and your reflexes at least once a year. Your doctor should also look for: If you have had foot ulcers before, see your doctor every 3 to 6 months. It is always a good idea to ask your doctor to check your feet. An A1c lab test shows how well you are controlling your blood sugar levels over a 3-month period. The normal level is less than 5.7%. Most people with diabetes should aim for an A1C of less than 7%. Some people have a higher target. Your doctor will help decide what your target should be. Higher A1C numbers mean that your blood sugar is higher and that you may be more likely to have complications from your diabetes. Continue reading >>
Home Blood Glucose Test: How To Test For Diabetes At Home
Home blood glucose testing is a safe and affordable way to detect diabetes before it becomes a health issue. Diabetes, especially in the early stages, does not always cause symptoms. Almost half of people with the disease don't know they have it. For people already diagnosed with diabetes, a simple diabetes home test is vital in the management of blood sugar levels. It could even be lifesaving. How to test for diabetes at home Home blood glucose monitoring is designed to offer a picture of how the body is processing glucose. A doctor might recommend testing at three different times, and often over the course of several days: Morning fasting reading: This provides information about blood glucose levels before eating or drinking anything. Morning blood glucose readings give a baseline number that offers clues about how the body processes glucose during the day. Before a meal: Blood glucose before a meal tends to be low, so high blood glucose readings suggest difficulties managing blood sugar. After a meal: Post meal testing gives a good idea about how your body reacts to food, and if sugar is able to efficiently get into the cells for use. Blood glucose readings after a meal can help diagnose gestational diabetes, which happens during pregnancy. Most doctors recommend testing about 2 hours after a meal. For the most accurate testing, people should log the food they eat, and notice trends in their blood glucose readings. Whether you consume a high or low carbohydrate meal, if your blood sugar reading is higher than normal afterwards, this suggests the body is having difficulty managing meals and lowering blood glucose. After consulting a doctor about the right testing schedule and frequency, people should take the following steps: Read the manual for the blood glucose moni Continue reading >>
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Diagnosis
It's important for diabetes to be diagnosed early so treatment can be started as soon as possible. If you experience the symptoms of diabetes, visit your GP as soon as possible. They'll ask about your symptoms and may request blood and urine tests. Your urine sample will be tested for glucose. Urine doesn't normally contain glucose, but glucose can overflow through the kidneys and into your urine if you have diabetes. If your urine contains glucose, a specialised blood test known as glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) can be used to determine whether you have diabetes. Glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) In people who have been diagnosed with diabetes, the glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) test is often used to show how well their diabetes is being controlled. The HbA1c test gives your average blood glucose levels over the previous two to three months. The results can indicate whether the measures you're taking to control your diabetes are working. If you've been diagnosed with diabetes, it's recommended you have your HbA1c measured at least twice a year. However, you may need to have your HbA1c measured more frequently if: you've recently been diagnosed with diabetes your blood glucose remains too high your treatment plan has been changed Unlike other tests, such as the glucose tolerance test (GTT), the HbA1c test can be carried out at any time of day and doesn't require any special preparation, such as fasting. However, the test can't be used in certain situations, such as during pregnancy. The advantages associated with the HbA1c test make it the preferred method of assessing how well blood glucose levels are being controlled in a person with diabetes. HbA1c can also be used as a diagnostic test for diabetes and as a screening test for people at high risk of diabetes. HbA1c as a diagno Continue reading >>
A Diabetes Test You Can Do Yourself
Are you urinating more often, feeling very thirsty, hungry, or tired? Maybe you’re losing weight. You may have type 2 diabetes. To find out, you can make an appointment with your doctor and have your blood tested for the condition. Or you can go to the drug store, buy a blood glucose meter, and give yourself a diabetes test. An estimated 40 percent of adults with type 2 diabetes don’t know they have it, which means they aren’t getting treatment that could protect them from very serious health problems down the road, such as heart disease, stroke, blindness, and kidney failure. The best option is to go to a doctor if you’re having symptoms of diabetes. But if you’re reluctant to do that, for whatever reason, the next best thing is to buy an over-the-counter diabetes test kit. "If you have a family history of diabetes, are obese, or have high blood pressure, you should test yourself for diabetes, if your doctor hasn’t already done so," says Marvin M. Lipman, M.D., Consumer Reports' chief medical adviser. "By being a proactive person, you might save yourself a lot of grief in the future.” Blood glucose meters can be purchased without a prescription. Models in our Ratings of more than two dozen devices cost $10 to $75. They usually come with 10 lancets, but you might have to buy a pack of test strips separately, which can cost $18 and up; check the package to see what it includes. If the meter doesn’t come with strips, make sure you buy a pack made for that model or you’ll get inaccurate results. Most models come with batteries. Here’s what you need to do next: Fast overnight. Don’t have anything to eat or drink (except water) for at least 8 hours, then test yourself first thing in the morning, before breakfast. Follow directions. Read the manual to ma Continue reading >>
Test Center
Test Guide Laboratory Testing for Diabetes Diagnosis and Management This Test Guide discusses the use of laboratory tests (Table 1) for diagnosing diabetes mellitus and monitoring glycemic control in individuals with diabetes. Diagnosis Tools for diagnosing diabetes mellitus include fasting plasma glucose (FPG) measurement, oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT), and standardized hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) assays (Table 2). FPG and OGTT tests are sensitive but measure glucose levels only in the short term, require fasting or glucose loading, and give variable results during stress and illness.1 In contrast, HbA1c assays reliably estimate average glucose levels over a longer term (2 to 3 months), do not require fasting or glucose loading, and have less variability during stress and illness.1,2 In addition, HbA1c assays are more specific for identifying individuals at increased risk for diabetes.1 Clinically significant glucose and HbA1c levels are shown in Table 2.1 The American Diabetes Association® (ADA) recommends using these values for diagnosing diabetes and increased diabetes risk (prediabetes). Management Following a diagnosis of diabetes, a combination of laboratory and clinical tests can be used to monitor blood glucose control, detect onset and progression of diabetic complications, and predict treatment response. Table 3 shows the recommended testing frequency and target results for these tests. Different laboratory tests are available for monitoring blood glucose control over the short, long, and intermediate term to help evaluate the effectiveness of a management plan.1 Self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) is useful for tracking short-term treatment responses in insulin-treated patients, but its usefulness is less clear in non–insulin-treated patients.1 By co Continue reading >>
How Is Diabetes Diagnosed?
Out of the estimated 24 million people with diabetes, one third, or eight million, don’t know they have the disease. According to Martin J. Abrahamson, M.D., Medical Director and Senior Vice President at Joslin Diabetes Center, this is because people with type 2 diabetes often have no symptoms. However, a simple blood test is all you need to find out if you are one the millions with untreated diabetes. Who should be tested? The American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends that everyone aged 45 and over should be tested for diabetes, and if the results are normal, re-tested every three years. Testing should be conducted at earlier ages and carried out more frequently in individuals who have any of the following diabetes risk factors: You have a parent or sibling with diabetes You are overweight (BMI higher than 25) You are a member of a high-risk ethnic population (African American, Hispanic American, Native American, Asian American or Pacific Islander) You had gestational diabetes or a baby weighing over 9 pounds Your HDL cholesterol levels are 35 mg/dl or less, and/or your triglyceride level is 250 mg/dl or above You have high blood pressure You have polycystic ovarian syndrome On previous testing, had impaired glucose tolerance or impaired fasting tolerance What tests are used for diagnosis? Fasting Plasma Glucose –This blood test is taken in the morning, on an empty stomach. A level of 126 mg/dl or above, on more than one occasion, indicates diabetes. Casual or Random Glucose - This blood test can be taken anytime during the day, without fasting. A glucose level of 200 mg/dl and above may suggest diabetes. If any of these test results occurs, testing should be repeated on a different day to confirm the diagnosis. If a casual plasma glucose equal to 200 mg/dl or Continue reading >>
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Diabetes: Why Isn't There A Non Invasive Blood Glucose Test Yet?
An extensive report has been published and maintained on this titled 'The Pursuit of Noninvasive Glucose, 2nd Edition, by John L. Smith P.hD.' available online here - In summary different technologies have been tried, prematurely released to the media and eventually failed to prove their effectiveness. Hundreds of millions have been spent with no good results but the pursuit continues. Also to be noted is that some techniques exist for patients in hospital care and one FDA approved technique that electrically withdrew glucose from blood had to be withdrawn from market due to side effects. Techniques tried include: Spectroscopic Techniques Near-infrared Mid-Infrared . Mid-Infrared Emission Stimulated emission (Raman or fluorescence) Terahertz Spectroscopy Photoacoustic Spectroscopy Optical Rotation Optical Rotation in Tissue Light Scattering Transdermal Techniques (and other trans-membrane techniques) The Retina Breath Hypoglycemic Monitors Other Approaches Transdermal Measurements Pulse Oximetry Pulse Wave Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (or MRI) Microwave Spectroscopy Subdermal Radio Frequency/Impedance Magnetics Microporation Optical Coherence Tomography Thermal and ―Combination Techniques . Evanescent Wave Spectroscopy Retinal Pigment Regeneration Continue reading >>
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- Postprandial Blood Glucose Is a Stronger Predictor of Cardiovascular Events Than Fasting Blood Glucose in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Particularly in Women: Lessons from the San Luigi Gonzaga Diabetes Study
- A soft drink a day raises risk of diabetes, says largest study yet
Getting Diagnosed
Type 2 diabetes is often diagnosed following blood or urine tests for something else. However, if you have any symptoms of diabetes you should see your GP straight away. To find out if you have type 2 diabetes, you usually have to go through the following steps: Speak to your GP about your symptoms. Your GP will check your urine and arrange a blood test to check your blood sugar levels. It usually takes about 1 to 2 days for the results to come back. If you have diabetes, your GP will ask you to come in again to explain the test results and what will happen next. If you’re diagnosed with diabetes What your GP will discuss with you during your appointment depends on the diagnosis and the treatment they recommend. Generally, they’ll talk to you about: what diabetes is what high blood sugar means for your health what medication you’ll have to take your diet and exercise your lifestyle, for example alcohol and smoking Your GP will do their best to discuss the diagnosis with you but this first appointment might only be 10 to 15 minutes. If you have questions about your diagnosis It’s usually difficult to take in everything the GP tells you during the appointment. Talk to family and friends about what the GP told you and write down all the questions you have. Then make another GP appointment and take your list of questions with you. There’s also a lot of information on diabetes available. What happens after the diagnosis Usually the following things happen after your diagnosis: Your GP will prescribe medication. It might take time for you to get used to the medication and to find the right amounts for you. You might need to make changes to your diet and be more active. You’ll have to go for regular type 2 diabetes check ups. You’ll have to look out for certain s Continue reading >>
Is Diabetes Hard To Diagnose? My Wife Seems To Have It But The Tests Say No.
No. It isn’t. Diagnosing diabetes is based on three lab results. Any one is enough: Fasting blood sugar >126 mg/dl…at least 8 hours fasting; Hgba1c >6.5%…a measure of the average of three month’s glucose; 2 hour glucose tolerance test <200 mg/dl @2 hours…Glucose tolerance test - non-pregnant: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia This test is just not necessary given the ease of the first two… The problem is, the tendency for a doctor to interpret results loosely. Maybe the clinician believes he is getting his patient motivated to change by leaving the burden of diabetes off their record. Sometimes, he thinks they've just barely achieved the numbers necessary for the word diabetes to be used. Fasting glucose between 100 and 125 mg/dl has been called prediabetes or metabolic syndrome or insulin resistance. The terms are used to heighten awareness that things look like they're becoming problematic. Basically, normal people can eat food and lower their glucose below these numbers, with no problem using functional metabolic function. The real giveaway is blood sugars over 250 and symptoms associated with highly osmotic solutes in the blood. Frequent urination, excessive thirst, big hunger, fatigue, blurry vision(esp. to change from near to far, or vice versa), yeast infections, skin sores that won’t heal easily, numbness of toes. These are symptoms associated with fully expressed diabetes. They also can be reversed as soon as blood sugars are normalized with treatment. My sense is she has diabetes, but is truly at the stage where it isn't obvious. This is the time for a person to make diet changes, increase exercise and quit the bad habits of drinking, smoking, drugs. Continue reading >>
Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus Workup
Laboratory Studies Plasma glucose Patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM) typically present with symptoms of uncontrolled hyperglycemia (eg, polyuria, polydipsia, polyphagia). In such cases, the diagnosis of DM can be confirmed with a random (nonfasting) plasma glucose concentration of 200 mg/dL or a fasting plasma glucose concentration of 126 mg/dL (6.99 mmol/L) or higher. [2, 62] A fingerstick glucose test is appropriate in the emergency department (ED) for virtually all patients with diabetes. All fingerstick capillary glucose levels must be confirmed in serum or plasma to make the diagnosis. All other laboratory studies should be selected or omitted on the basis of the individual clinical situation. Intravenous (IV) glucose testing may be considered for possible early detection of subclinical diabetes. Individually measured glucose levels may differ considerably from estimated glucose averages calculated from measured hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels. [64] Therefore, caution is urged when the decision is made to estimate rather than actually measure glucose concentration; the difference between the 2 has a potential impact on decision making. Hemoglobin A HbA
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Glucose Screening And Glucose Tolerance Test
Nearly 1 in 10 women will develop gestational diabetes (GD or GDM) during pregnancy — which is why almost all practitioners screen for it in all their patients. Fortunately, gestational diabetes is also one of the most easily managed pregnancy complications. When blood sugar is closely controlled through diet, exercise and, if necessary, medication, women with gestational diabetes are likely to have perfectly normal pregnancies and healthy babies. When a glucose screening is done The glucose screen is usually done between week 24 of pregnancy and week 28 of pregnancy. Some practitioners may test earlier if you're at higher risk for the disorder, including if you're obese, 35 or older, have a family history of diabetes or had gestational diabetes in a previous pregnancy. How a glucose screening is done The glucose screening is simple, especially if you have a sweet tooth. First, you'll drink a very sweet glucose (aka sugar) drink, which usually tastes like flat orange soda. Then you'll wait for one hour before having some blood drawn and tested for glucose. Most women chug the stuff with no problem and no side effects; a few, especially those who don't have a taste for sweet liquids, feel a little queasy afterwards. How a glucose tolerance test is done If the results of your glucose screening show elevated levels of glucose in your blood, it's possible that you might not be producing enough insulin to process the extra glucose in your system. Your doctor may then order a glucose tolerance test. For this diagnostic test, you'll be asked to fast overnight. Your blood will be drawn in the morning, and then you'll drink a higher-concentration glucose mixture. Your blood will be drawn three more times, at one, two, and three hours later. If a glucose tolerance test diagnose Continue reading >>
5 Important Tests For Type 2 Diabetes
It takes more than just one abnormal blood test to diagnose diabetes.Istockphoto For centuries, diabetes testing mostly consisted of a physician dipping his pinkie into a urine sample and tasting it to pick up on abnormally high sugar. Thankfully, testing for type 2 diabetes is lot easier now—at least for doctors. Urine tests can still pick up diabetes. However, sugar levels need to be quite high (and diabetes more advanced) to be detected on a urine test, so this is not the test of choice for type 2 diabetes. Blood tests Almost all diabetes tests are now conducted on blood samples, which are collected in a visit to your physician or obstetrician (if you're pregnant). More about type 2 diabetes If you have an abnormal resultmeaning blood sugar is too high—on any of these tests, you'll need to have more testing. Many things can affect blood sugar (such as certain medications, illness, or stress). A diabetes diagnosis requires more than just one abnormal blood sugar result. The main types of diabetes blood tests include: Oral glucose-tolerance test. This test is most commonly performed during pregnancy. You typically have your blood drawn once, then drink a syrupy glucose solution and have your blood drawn at 30 to 60 minute intervals for up to three hours to see how your body is handling the glut of sugar. Normal result: Depends on how many grams of glucose are in the solution, which can vary. Fasting blood sugar. This is a common test because it's easy to perform. After fasting overnight, you have your blood drawn at an early morning doctor's visit and tested to see if your blood sugar is in the normal range. Normal result: 70-99 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl) or less than 5.5 mmol/L Two-hour postprandial test. This blood test is done two hours after you have eate Continue reading >>
Diabetes: What Are The Most Common Reasons Why Patients Don't Test Their Blood Glucose?
I respectfully disagree with some of what one poster has listed. Testing is absolutely necessary for *every* person with diabetes, regardless of what "type" they have. It's misinformation to be told otherwise, and one more reason why diabetes patients should see an endocrinologist or doctor who actually specializes in diabetes management, whenever possible. The only way anyone with diabetes knows what foods cause dangerous blood sugar spikes is by testing and using a before/after approach. Test before meals and two hours afterward. Standard goals would have you at a glucose reading of 120 or less after meals, and every diabetic should strive to stay below 140 at any given time. Above 140, diabetes is doing damage to your internal organs. Most people don't test because they fear needles or pain. If you are using your lancing device properly, it's not much more than an annoyance to prick your finger. The device should not be set to drive the lancet into your finger in a painful way. Find the level that works for you and your pain tolerance. I won't lie and say you won't feel anything, but it is not unbearable. There are also new lancing devices that allow you to test from areas other than your fingertips and those test areas are more like receiving a mosquito bite than a needle stick. The other reason people avoid testing is due to insurance reasons. Either insurance is completely lacking or the company only pays for a certain amount of lancets and test strips. This can be gotten over in a couple of ways. First, have your doctor write a prescription for lancets and strips that coincide with the actual amount of testing you feel necessary to maintain control of your disease. Second, have your doctor get a pre-approval from your insurance company to cover the greater amount Continue reading >>
