How Do Doctors Test for Diabetes?

Doctors test for diabetes when patients show potential signs and symptoms of having the disease. Other reasons that a medical practitioner will test relate to a patient's background and activity level. Doctors pick between three different test to determine whether or not a person is diabetic: a fasting plasma glucose, a oral glucose tolerance test and random plasma glucose test. The blood sugar numbers tell whether or not diabetes is present in an individual.

Who Doctors Test

Doctors decide who to test by sorting through risk factors that can point to a potential diabetic. Guidelines medical practitioners use to figure out who to test include patients without symptoms who show a high body mass index reading, someone over 45 years of age and someone who doesn't work out on a regular basis. Patients with a Hispanic, African American American Indian or Asian American background will likely receive a request to get tested at some point. Doctors will often order a test on a patient with a diagnosis in their immediate family.

Test Types

• Your doctor will most likely order a fasting plasma glucose (FPG) test if he feels you may show signs of diabetes.


• Obstetricians tend to order a oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT) for pregnant patients with a risk of gestational diabetes.


• The random plasma glucose test, sometimes referred to as a casual plasma glucose test, gives a blood reading without the patient needing to fast before the blood draw. Doctors do not use this test to determine whether or not a patient displays symptoms of pre diabetes.

 Results

• Blood sugar readings using the fasting plasma glucose test label a patient as pre diabetic if their blood glucose number ranges from 100 to 125 labels a patient as pre diabetic. Reading below 99 shows that patient displays no signs of diabetes and numbers above 126 label someone as diabetic.


• Obstetricians list a pregnant women as diabetic if her numbers read from 200 or above. She will receive a diagnosis of pre diabetes if the numbers show up between 140 to 199. Readings below 139 indicate that no signs of diabetes is present.


• Patients with a blood glucose level above 200 combined with symptoms of increased urination, excessive thirst and rapid, unexplained weight loss will receive a diagnoses of diabetes following the random plasma glucose test.