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Types of Tests for Diabetes and Prediabetes
By pohheng | June 25, 2008
photo by NoShoes
There are several types of tests which can be used to determine if you are suffering from diabetes and prediabetes, they are:
- random blood sugar test (RBS)
- fasting plasma glucose test (FPG)
- oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT)
- glycosylated hemoglobin A1C test (HbA1c)
A small quantity of blood sample will be taken from you for test irregardless of when you last had your meal. This is also why the test gets it name RANDOM.
A sugar level of >11.1mmol/L (or 200mg/dl) at anytime indicates Diabetes and a reading of between 7.8 to 11.0 mmol/L (or 140 to 199mg/dl) could means Prediabetes. If you fall between these levels, the doctor will advise a repeat test later or other types of tests to confirm the results.
Fasting Plasma Glucose (FPG) Test
This is the most common method used to determine whether a person has diabetes. To have accurate results for FPG, you will be required to fast a minimum of 8 to 10 hours usually overnight and blood sample will be taken early in the morning.
A normal person’s reading following an overnight’s fast should be from 70 to 100mg/dl. A reading >126mg/dl indicates Diabetes. If your level falls between 101 to 125mg/dl, you belonged to a group called Prediabetes or Impaired Glucose Tolerance (IGT), just like me, read more here.
Diabetes will be defined as 2 separate tests which yielded results of >126mg/dl.
Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT)
The Oral Glucose Tolerance Test or OGTT in short is normally used to test for gestational diabetes and also used to diagnose diabetes and prediabetes.
Prior to the test, you will need to fast for about 10 to 14 hours. A blood test will be taken just before you are given a drink, containing about 75 grams of glucose, which you must finished quickly. Your blood sample will be collected every 2 hours after drinking.
If your oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT ) shows > 200mg/dl or >11mmol/L after 2 hours of drinking, you may have diabetes and needs further testing.
Glycosylated Hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c)
Glycosylated Hemoglobin A1C or HbA1c is a test which will show your blood glucose / sugar level over a period of 2 to 3 months and is given in percentage terms.
To take the test, there is no need to fast and the blood sample will usually be taken from your veins. The test results will usually takes less than 10 minutes if they can test in the clinic, if not, the blood will be sent to the laboratory.
In general, a person’s results should be between 4.0 to 6.0%. A level higher than 7% indicates Diabetes and levels between 6 to 7% shows Prediabetes (Impaired Glucose Tolerance - IGT).
The 4 most common tests to determine whether you have diabetes or prediabetes are given above. You may ask “So when do i have to take these tests”.
The answer is, if you have not been previously diagnosed with Diabetes, you should go for Fasting Plasma Blood (FPG) test as recommended below:
- once a year if you are more than 40 years of age
- every 2 years if you are below 40 years
- if you experience one of more of these symptoms of diabetes shown here
- if you are at a higher risk of diabetes, find out more here
Topics: Diabetes Overview |