Diabetes Testing Could Help You Prevent Type 2 Diabetes
Diabetes
testing is focused on obtaining your blood glucose levels.
There are many reasons why you might want to consider diabetes
testing, such as your age, your weight, how you feel, and
your family history. Diabetes
statistics show that you consider diabetes testing if
you are 45 years old or older, are overweight, or if you
have one or more risk factors for diabetes.
Diabetes
testing can tell you if you have normal blood glucose levels,
pre-diabetes, or diabetes. Many people go for their first
diabetes testing when they experience the common signs
of diabetes such as frequent urination, excessive thirst,
unexplained weight loss, blurry vision, and fatigue. Having
one or more risk factors for diabetes is a warning sign
for diabetes. Some of the risk factors for type 2 diabetes
are as follows:
- Being
overweight
- A
family history of diabetes
- High
blood pressure
- Unhealthy
cholesterol levels
- A
history of gestational diabetes (diabetes during pregnancy)
There
are three common blood glucose tests used for diabetes testing.
A fasting plasma glucose test (FPG) is used to check your
blood glucose after you have not eaten for at least 8 hours.
Similarly, an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) calculates
your blood glucose after you have not eaten for 8 hours,
and 2 hours after you drink a special glucose beverage.
A random glucose test measures your blood glucose at any
time, regardless of when you last ate.
The
readings of these tests, along with your symptoms and other
factors, should determine if you have pre-diabetes or diabetes.
Each test has different readings to diagnose abnormally
high blood glucose levels. For example, on an FPG test,
any reading above 99 mg/dL signifies pre-diabetes or diabetes,
while with an OGTT, a reading of 140 mg/dL or more is a
sign of pre-diabetes or diabetes. On a random glucose test,
a reading of 200 mg/dL and above is considered diabetic.
If
your diabetes testing found evidence of pre-diabetes, there
are ways to delay or prevent type 2 diabetes. A low-calorie,
low-fat diet, diabetes
weight loss, and regular exercise have shown great promise
in preventing the onset of diabetes. Pre-diabetic patients
who followed this regimen showed a 58 percent less chance
of getting diabetes.
|
