Diabetes Supply

SCREENING FOR DIABETES

This test may also be used to screen a person for diabetes.

High blood sugar and diabetes may not cause symptoms in the early stages.

A fasting blood sugar test is almost always done to screen for diabetes.

If you are over age 45, you should be tested every 3 years.

If you have any of the risk factors below, ask your health care provider about getting tested at an earlier age and more often:

Overweight (body mass index, or BMI, of 25 or higher) and other risk factors
Blood pressure of 140/90 mmHg or higher, or unhealthy cholesterol levels
Member of a high-risk ethnic group (African American, Hispanic American, Native American, Asian American, or Pacific Islander)
Woman who has delivered a baby weighing 9 pounds or more, or who had gestational diabetes
Polycystic ovary disease
Close relative with diabetes (such as a parent, brother or sister)
Children age 10 and older who are overweight and have at least two of the risk factors listed above should be tested for type 2 diabetes every 3 years, even if they have no symptoms.

Normal Results

If you had a fasting blood glucose test, a level between 70 and 100 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) is considered normal.

If you had a random blood glucose test, a normal result depends on when you last ate. Most of the time, the blood glucose level will be below 125 mg/dL.

The examples above show the common measurements for results of these tests. Normal value ranges may vary slightly among different laboratories. Some laboratories use different measurements or may test different specimens. Talk to your doctor about the meaning of your specific test results.

What Abnormal Results Mean

If you had a fasting blood glucose test:

A level of 100 to 125 mg/dL means you have impaired fasting glucose, a type of prediabetes. This increases your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

A level of 126 mg/dL and higher usually means you have diabetes.

If you had a random blood glucose test:

A level of 200 mg/dL or higher often means you have diabetes.

Your health care provider will order a fasting blood glucose, HbA1c test, or glucose tolerance test, depending on your random blood glucose test result.

In someone who has diabetes, an abnormal result on the random blood glucose test may mean that the diabetes is not well controlled.