March 28, 2001
Gestational Diabetes
Question from Pleasanton, California, USA:
I am 38 years old and 27 weeks pregnant with my second child. Last week, I had the three-hour glucose tolerance test which my doctor says is completely within normal limits, but the lab marked the three-hour value of 118 mg/dl [6.6 mmol/L] as high. In all my research, I have been unable to find anything that says that a three-hour value below 130 mg/dl [7.2 mmol/L] is abnormal. I am concerned that I may be have borderline diabetes. What does it mean that my values increased as time went on, instead of decreased? Should I be concerned?
Answer:
Your glucose test is normal. I have seen laboratories reporting these as abnormal because they are not aware that they follow a glucose load. These would be elevated for random glucose testing. I have seen values increase during the test, but I have no exact explanation. You are still able to make insulin to handle the excess glucose.
OWJ
