How Do Doctors Screen for Diabetes?
Diabetes is a medical condition that causes high levels of blood glucose. Diabetes 1 is generally diagnosed during childhood, while diabetes 2 is typically a disease of adulthood. Conversely, gestational diabetes is when diabetes occurs during pregnancy in women who were not know to have diabetes prior to pregnancy. Doctors screen for diabetes based on patient’s symptoms and lab tests.
Doctors typically screen for diabetes based on a combination medical history, physical examination and lab tests. When a patient reports that he is experiencing fatigue, weight loss despite an increase in appetite, increased thirst and frequent urination, the doctor may suspect the presence of diabetes. In addition, blurred vision, sores that do not heal, mood changes and yeast infections in women might signal diabetes.
Other than the physical examination and medical history, doctors screen for diabetes with blood and urine testing. A simple office procedure is the urine dipstick test. After the patient provides a urine sample, a dipstick placed in the specimen can determine if there is sugar in the urine. Based on these findings, doctors can perform further testing such as an Accu-check. This diagnostic test requires a small blood sample from the finger, which is then placed on a strip similar to the dipstick used in the urine testing. The strip is generally then placed in a machine called a glucometer, which can calculate how high the blood sugar is.
Another accurate blood test that doctors use to screen for diabetes is the 2-hour postprandial blood sugar test. This test requires a venous sample of blood and it measures blood glucose levels two hours after the patient has eaten a meal. Other ways doctors screen for diabetes are with the random blood sugar test, which is a test taken at random times of the day and the glucose tolerance test.
If these screening methods reveal a diagnosis of diabetes, effective treatments are available. It is important that the patient adhere to his treatment plan because failure to do so can result in complications. These complications include heart disease, kidney disease and diminished or loss of visual function. At the first sign of symptoms, it is important that individuals visit their health care providers to get appropriate diabetes screening and treatment.