What does the doctor do to check for diabetes?
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 at
8:31 am
I have been having some symptoms of diabetes for the past couple of weeks. I have been drinking tons of water and going to the bathroom nonstop. I have also had some blurred vision, shortness of breath, and nausea. I have a doctors appointment this week and I was wondering if anyone knew how they tested for diabetes and if they will be able to tell me the results right away or if it will take like a week to get them back or something? I was also wondering if there is anything else they might test me for? Any info you have would be helpful. Thanks!
Tagged with: check • diabetes • doctor
Filed under: Testing for Diabetes
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they will make u fast for a day then check ur blood its that simple
they will do a blood sugar fasting(F) and post prandial (PP) test. they normally give the report after few hours. fasting means overnight fasting (minimum 8 hrs) and after first blood sample is taken and you should take a full meal and then after 2 hours they take next sample. normally they take venous sample but at some places they also take an arterial sample. there is another test for people who are being tested for diabetes but have not been diagnosed with diabetes in the past. that is glucose tolerance test or GTT. in this they take a fasting sample and then make you drink 75 gm glucose and then take sample at repeated intervals like 1 hr, 1 1/2 hr, 2 hr, etc. along with urine samples. again the reporting is done in a few hours or next day. can see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_sugar
http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/glucose/test.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucose_tolerance_test
Your symptoms point towards impaired insulin response of some sort. The term diabetes covers a whole bunch of different reasons for impairments. It could be that you pancreas does not make enough insulin. In most cases it ti the opposite, it makes to much but you body cannot use the insulin correctly. Your doc will tell you. There is an off chance that you have a thyroid problem. That is also easily tested with a blood test.
Call the docs office now and tell them to order an HbA1C test along with whatever other blood tests you may need. Go in 2 days early and get the blood drawn and your doc will have the results when you show.
Many docs offices, especially endocrinologists, have the HbA1c machine on premises and the results come back in 5 minutes.
Now to the question.
Most docs just go for a fasting (not eating anything but drinking water is OK for at least 4 hours) blood sugar test.
This can be done at the office with a finger stick. If above 140 mg/dl (I’m assuming your in the US for the numbers) they say your diabetic. If between 110 and 139 they say your pre diabetic. This is the old way of doing it. The HbA1c test shows what you average blood sugar was for the past 3 months and there is no need to fast.
The older gold standard test used by many, called the Glucose Tolerance Test, takes hours at the office. You fast they take your sugar, you drink a specially measured glucose drink and they check you sugar evey 1/2 to one hour for 3 to 6 hours. This test checks how well your body responds to processing the sugar correctly.
good luck. In most cases with adult onset or type 2 diabetes a strict weight loss and low carbohydrate (kind of like a modified Atkins) diet program controls in in some cases actually officially “cures” type 2 diabetes. (officially having and HbA1c of 7 or above is diabetic and the official aim is 6 or below. If you are below 6 insurance companies do not consider you diabetic for things like life insurance. In real life your goal is to get your HbA1c down to 5.4 or less) It does not really cure but it controls if you hold to the life style changes you need no medication and you have few complications from the disease such as loss of nerve function, hardening of the arteries, loss of vision, loss of limbs from poor circulation etc.
u dont have 2 think 2 much……….if u have not taken anything not even tea…than they wil tak ur blood sample….. &wil test that 4 amount of sugar…it is is called fasting sugar it shoud b less than 120mg/dl……..or they can take sample after 2 hrs of meal i.e. called postprandial sugar……..it shud b less than 140 mg/dl……..
they can test u by glucometer immediately……..or in other lab it will take few hr. only…..
Doctor will do GTT (Glucose Tolerance Test). Result will be ready within couple of hours.
Faisal