August 24, 2001
Diagnosis and Symptoms
Question from Ontario, Canada:
My friend’s six year old son (who lives in Latin America) had a blood glucose reading of 167 mg/dl [9.3 mmol/L], and the doctors want to do a glucose tolerance test. However, my friend had been told that his son could fall into a diabetic coma during the test. Does this blood sugar mean the child has diabetes? How risky is the glucose tolerance test?
Answer:
The glucose tolerance test is not dangerous — it simply tests the body’s ability to move glucose from the bloodstream into the tissues. It will not cause DKA [diabetic ketoacidosis].
A glucose reading of 167 mg/dl [9.3 mmol/L] is not high enough to be diagnostic of diabetes in a six year old child unless it’s a fasting value. Even then, I would not rely on this without a strong history of drinking excessively and passing far more urine than normal.
KJR