As you know, diabetes is caused when a person’s blood glucose levels become very high. However, defining diabetes in this way is rather vague because it doesn’t say how high the blood sugar level of a person must be in order to label him/her as a diabetic. In this article, I will tell you about the different types of blood sugar tests you can do in order to determine whether your blood sugar level is normal or not. Hopefully, after reading this article, you will have a better understanding of diabetes.
1. Fasting blood sugar test: If on any day you have fasted straight for about eight hours and if you have measured your blood sugar level with a glucose meter after fasting, you might have noticed that your blood sugar level is more or less at 110 mg/dl. The fasting blood sugar test is done after you have not eaten any food or liquids for about eight hours. If your blood glucose level is about 126 mg/dl or higher, then it means that you are suffering from diabetes.
2. Random blood sugar test: Under this test, if your blood sugar level is within 100s then it is considered to be normal. On the other hand, if your blood glucose level is 200 mg/dl or higher and if you are showing symptoms of diabetes such as fatigue, excessive urination, excessive thirst or unplanned weight loss, then it is clear that you are suffering from diabetes.
3. Oral Glucose tolerant test: This is yet another type of blood test available and in my opinion, it is the most effective out of all the blood tests. While in case of fasting blood sugar test, your blood is tested after you have not eaten any type of foods or liquids(including water) for about eight hours, in case of oral glucose tolerant test, you are asked fast for eight hours and then you are made to drink a sugar-water solution. Your blood sugar level will then be tested over several hours. If you are a normal person and do not suffer from diabetes, then after drinking this solution, your blood sugar levels will rise a bit and then quickly fall to normal level. If you are suffering from diabetes, your blood sugar level will increase a lot higher than normal after drinking the sugar-water solution ,and it wouldn’t fall down that quick. Diabetes is diagnosed if after drinking the solution, your blood sugar level becomes 200 mg/dl or higher.
Controlling diabetes glucose levels is the key to curing diabetes forever. If you would like to know more about diabetes glucose levels and how to control it, [adrotate banner=”16″]