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3 tests for diabetes you should know about

3 tests for diabetes you should know about

Want to know what's normal and what's not normal with your blood sugar levels? Here is detailed explanation on diagnosis of diabetes

Written by Shraddha Rupavate |Updated : June 20, 2014 5:38 PM IST

Diagnosis of diabetesDiabetes is diagnosed by checking blood sugar levels. There are 3 crucial blood tests used to identify whether you're diabetic:

1. Fasting Plasma Glucose (FPG) test: It is used to measure blood sugar level after the person has been fasting for at least 8 hours. Ideally, when you're fasting, your blood sugar levels should go down because of lack of source of energy. But when your sugar levels are still high, it indicates ineffective regulation of blood glucose.

Normal range: Blood glucose below 100 mg/dL is considered as normal.

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If your fasting glucose level is found to be 126 mg/dL or greater, then you may have diabetes. Your doctor may recommend a repeat test the next day to confirm the results if your sugar level is between 100 and 125mg/dL.

2. Oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT): Like the fasting plasma glucose test, this test also requires 8 hours of fasting. Following that, you have to drink a glass of water mixed with 75g of glucose. The blood glucose is then checked after 2 hours of taking the fluid.

Normal range: Sugar level below 140 mg/dL is considered normal.

If it is found to be between 140 to 199 mg/dL, then you will be diagnosed with prediabetes, a condition where the sugar is not too high to be confirmed as diabetes. If the blood glucose-level is above 200 mg/dL, then the person is diagnosed with diabetes.

3. HbA1C test or glycated hemoglobin test: This test is specifically used to diagnose type 2 diabetes. It is also used to check overall regulation of blood sugar and to check if the treatment given for reducing blood sugar is effective. It measures the amount of sugar or glucose attached to hemoglobin in red blood cells (RBCs) circulating the body. Because the average life of a RBC is 100-120 days, blood sugar detected with this test reflects a person's sugar level over the period of three months.

Normal range: A1C level below 5.7% is normal.

If it is between 5.7 to 6.4%, it indicates prediabetes. A person is diagnosed with diabetes if he/she has an A1C level of 5.7% or above.

Diagnosis/test

Fasting plasma glucose (mg/dL)

Oral glucose tolerance test (mg/dL)

HbA1C (%)

Normal

Below 100

Below 140

below 5.7

Prediabetes

Between 100 and 125

Between 140-199

Between 5.7 and 6.4

Diabetes

Above 125

200 and above

Above 5.7

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