Diagnosis of Diabetes
The most important check for the diagnosis of diabetes is the check of abnormal levels of sugar in the blood.
That could be done in a routine medical examination.
A blood sample is taken from the patient after an overnight fasting.
The fasting blood sugar should not exceed the level of 126 mg/dl.
If the check is after eating, then the blood sugar should not exceed the level of 200 mg/dl.
This check is routine in adults over the age of 40 since type 2 diabetes is so common in these years of life.
Doctors may also consider checking blood sugar level even if they recognize any suspicious symptoms of diabetes like excessive thirst, or excessive urination, or increased hunger or unexplained weight loss.
There may be a state of "Pre Diabetes" (People may have the first signs, particularly of type 2 diabetes, and do not know it). Levels of blood sugar are higher than normal levels, but are still under the limit of diabetes.
This state has two options:
Impaired Fasting Glucose - Levels of blood sugar are about 100-125 mg/dl after 8 hours of fasting.
Impaired Glucose Tolerance - Levels of blood sugar are about 140-200 mg/dl after eating.
In both cases, if you have been diagnosed as pre diabetes, you have a high chance of getting type 2 diabetes in the next 10 years. The only way to avoid it is to take actions like weight loss, exercises, and a diet plan.
Diabetes can also be diagnosed after a routine screening of pregnant women for gestational diabetes or in a routine checkup of elderly people.
Another diagnosis is also a test of Ketones in the blood or in urine which can confirm diabetes.
Ketones are compounds formed by fatty acids which were broken down for energy in the liver and the kidneys.
If the test indicates that there are Ketones in the bloodstream, it means that your cells are in a period of starvation, and there is a deficiency of insulin in the cells.
The body's solution is to break down stored fat, make Ketones from it, and consume them.
That's the reason Ketones can be found in your blood and that's a clear evidence for diabetes.
The last diagnosis is the test of the hemoglobin A1c (also called Glycosylated) which can also diagnose diabetes, but doctors don’t do that often because it has to measure the blood glucose levels over a period of 90 days.
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