Diagnosing Diabetes
A doctor
can diagnose diabetes by checking for symptoms such as excessive
thirst and frequent urination and by testing for glucose
in blood or urine. When blood glucose rises above a certain
point, the kidneys pass the extra glucose in the urine.
However, a urine test alone is not sufficient to diagnose
diabetes.
A second
method for testing glucose is a blood test usually done
in the morning before breakfast (fasting glucose test) or
after a meal (postprandial glucose test).
Points
to Remember
A doctor will diagnose diabetes by looking for four kinds
of evidence:
- risk
factors like exercise weight and a family history of diabetes
- symptoms
such as thirst and frequent urination
- complications
like heart trouble
- signs
of excess glucose or sugar in blood and urine tests.
The
oral glucose tolerance test is a second type of blood test
used to check for diabetes. Sometimes it can detect diabetes
when a simple blood test does not. In this test, blood glucose
is measured before and after a person has consumed a thick,
sweet drink of glucose and other sugars.
Normally,
the glucose in a person's blood rises quickly after the
drink and then falls gradually again as insulin signals
the body to metabolize the glucose. In someone with diabetes,
blood glucose rises and remains high after consumption of
the liquid.
A doctor
can decide, based on these tests and a physical exam, whether
someone has diabetes. If a blood test is borderline abnormal,
the doctor may want to monitor the person's blood glucose
regularly.
If a
person is overweight, he or she probably will be advised
to lose weight. The doctor also may monitor the patient's
heart, since diabetes increases the risk of heart disease.
See
also:
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