Tests for suspected diabetes include several diagnostic measures that allow you to confirm / reject the development of a “sweet” disease. In addition, differential diagnostics are performed to distinguish diabetes from other ailments.
Diabetes mellitus is a chronic pathology leading to impaired glucose uptake at the cellular level. Against the background of this disease, there is a relative or absolute insulin deficiency, which leads to the accumulation of sugar in the blood.
In order to accurately establish the diagnosis, several studies are always carried out that make it possible to exclude the likelihood of error, other diseases. As you know, there are still diseases that can lead to high concentrations of sugar in the blood.
Let’s find out what tests you need to pass for diabetes? And also find out how the studies are conducted, and what information should the patient have?
Diabetes Test List
In the world of free information, including medical information, many people are more or less familiar with the symptoms of many diseases. It is more likely to say that one third of the population knows what classic symptoms are characterized by the disease.
In this regard, with a strong and constant thirst, hunger, frequent urination and general malaise, people think about a possible pathology like diabetes. To confirm or refute suspicions, you must consult a doctor.
Modern diagnostic measures make it possible to establish the disease with 100% accuracy, which allows us to start adequate treatment on time.
Brief description of the main studies on sugar disease:
- Patients pass a general urine test, as a rule, they do this in the morning before eating. Normally, there should be no sugar in urine.
- Daily urinalysis is a study that helps detect the presence of glucose in body fluid.
- Examination of urine for the presence of protein and acetone. If the patient has diabetes, then not only sugar, but also acetone with protein will be found in the urine. Normally, this should not be.
- The study of urine to detect ketone bodies. When they are discovered, we can talk about the violation of carbohydrate processes in the human body.
- A blood test for sugar from a finger or from a vein. Always gives up in the morning on an empty stomach. It has its own rules and recommendations, which eliminates false positive or false negative results.
- Examination for glucose sensitivity – a test conducted with sugar load, which makes it possible to see the rate of absorption of sugar after eating.
- A glycated hemoglobin test examines the constituent of hemoglobin, which binds to blood sugar. The test allows you to see the concentration of sugar in three months.
Thus, the information listed above proves that only one analysis cannot confirm or refute the presence of a sugar disease.
Diagnosis of diabetes is a set of measures aimed at establishing indicators of glucose in the blood, protein, acetone and ketone bodies in the urine. According to one analysis, to make a diagnosis, at least, is not correct.
Blood test: information, rules, decryption
A sugar test is not only a diagnostic measure to establish diabetes, but also prevention. Doctors recommend that all people at least once a year undergo this study in order to detect a probable pathology in time.
After forty years of age, you need to undergo several tests per year, since people in this age group significantly increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Those people who are at risk should be tested 4-5 times a year.
A blood test is one of the main methods that allows you to suspect the development of diabetes, as well as some other pathologies associated with endocrine pathological disorders in the human body.
To exclude receiving a false result, the patient must adhere to some rules:
- Two days before the study, it is strictly forbidden to drink alcoholic beverages, even in small dosages.
- 10 hours before the blood sampling is not recommended to eat any food, you can not drink liquids (except water).
- It is not advisable to brush your teeth or chew gum in the morning, as they contain a certain amount of sugar, which can affect the correctness of the diagnostic test.
You can donate blood in any paid clinic, or in your medical institution at the place of residence. As a rule, the study is ready the next day. How is the received data decrypted?
It all depends on where the blood was taken from. If blood was taken from a finger, then the norm is considered indicators from 3.3 to 5.5 mmol / l. When taking from a vein, the values increase by 12%.
With values from 5.5 to 6.9 units, we can speak of a hyperglycemic state and suspected prediabetes. If the study showed a result of more than 7.0 units, then we can assume the development of diabetes.
In the latter case, it is recommended to repeat this analysis on different days, as well as implement other diagnostic methods. When sugar is less than 3.3 units – this indicates a hypoglycemic state, that is, blood sugar is below normal.
Glucose tolerance test: features, goals, results
The glucose tolerance test is a diagnostic method that allows you to determine a glucose sensitivity disorder in the early stages, as a result of which a prediabetic state or diabetes can be detected early enough.
This study has three objectives: to confirm / refute the “sweet” disease, the diagnosis of hypoglycemic state; detect a syndrome of digestion of sugar in the lumen of the gastrointestinal tract.
Eating 10 hours before the study is not recommended. The first blood sampling is carried out on an empty stomach, a control sample, so to speak. After the patient needs to drink 75 grams of glucose, which dissolves in a warm ordinary liquid.
Then, a blood sample is taken every hour. All samples are sent to the laboratory. At the end of the study, we can talk about some diseases.
Information as decryption:
- If two hours after the test the result is less than 7.8 units, then we can talk about the normal functionality of the human body. That is, the patient is healthy.
- With the results, the variability of which is from 7.8 to 11.1 units, we can talk about impaired glucose susceptibility, suspected prediabetic state.
- Over 11.1 units – they say about diabetes.
It should be noted that the results of the study may be influenced by some factors that lead to false results.
The following factors can be distinguished: non-compliance with nutritional recommendations, the period of bearing a child, diseases of an infectious nature, age over 50 years.
Glycated hemoglobin
Glycated hemoglobin is a study that allows you to find out blood sugar in the last three months. In addition, this test is performed to verify the effectiveness of the prescribed therapy; in order to establish a prediabetic state; women are examined during gestation for the presence / absence of diabetes (with characteristic symptoms).
Glycated hemoglobin has many advantages when compared with other diagnostic measures aimed at detecting diabetes.
The advantage of the study is that the test is in no way dependent on food intake and other recommendations that the patient should implement before other studies. But the minus is that not every institution conducts such a test, the rather high cost of manipulation.
Decoding:
- Up to 5.7% is the norm.
- From 5.6 to 6.5 is a violation of sugar tolerance, which indicates prediabetes.
- Over 6.5% are diabetes.
If the patient is diagnosed with a prediabetic state or diabetes mellitus, then in the first case a low-carb diet and physical activity are recommended in order to prevent an increase in sugar rates.
In the second embodiment, it all depends on the type of pathology. With the second type of disease, recommendations, as with prediabetes. If the patient has type 1 diabetes mellitus, insulin therapy is prescribed immediately.