Important Diabetes Tests
Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is the fifth largest death causing disease in the United States. It is a chronic condition whereby the body fails to correctly process the glucose for cell energy. What are the diabetes tests taken to know if one has this condition?
Tests have been developed for not only successfully diagnosing diabetes, but also for diagnosing a similar condition called pre-diabetes. In pre-diabetes, although the blood glucose levels remain higher than normal, they are not as high as to be characterized as diabetes. People suffering from pre-diabetes run the risk of developing the Type 2 form of the disease within the next two to ten years.
To find out whether you have any one of these conditions or not, a fasting plasma glucose test, an oral glucose tolerance test or a random plasma glucose test is conducted.
Cure Diabetes Type 1, 2 or Gestational With Natural Remedies That Really Work. Click Here To Read More. The fasting plasma glucose (FPG) test is the most preferred and the most reliable test for diagnosing a patient with diabetes. It can be conducted both for pre-diabetes as well as for diabetes. It is most reliable when done in the morning. According to the test, if your fasting glucose level is between 100 and 125 mg/dL, you have a form of pre-diabetes called the impaired fasting glucose (IFG). A fasting glucose level of 126 mg/dL or above, confirms the condition of diabetes. However, a single test is not sufficient for the confirmation of the disease. The oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) is more inconvenient to administer than the FPG. To take the test, you have to fast for at least 8 hours prior to the test. Your plasma glucose test is measured just before, and two hours after you take a liquid, which would contain 75 grams of glucose in water. If the level of glucose in your blood comes between 140 and 199 mg/dL, two hours after drinking the liquid, you are suffering from a form of pre-diabetes called the impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). To confirm diabetes, a second test is conducted after a few days. If on this day, you test for a glucose level of 200 mg/dL or above, you are confirmed for diabetes. The OGTT is also used for measuring gestational diabetes. The random plasma glucose test is another test used widely by doctors. In it a random check for blood glucose level is made. If it goes to 200 mg/dL or beyond, along with the symptoms of increased urination, thirst and an unexplained weight loss you are confirmed to have diabetes. You may have other symptoms also simultaneously. These include blurred vision, increased hunger, fatigue and unhealed sores. The doctor may conduct an additional FPG or an OGTT, on another day, to confirm your diagnosis. These diabetes tests are conducted commonly for either testing whether a patient already has the disease, or whether he is at a risk of developing it in future.
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