
April 17, 2002
Diagnosis and Symptoms
Question from Adelphi, Maryland, USA:
About 11 months ago, I was diagnosed with type�2 diabetes when I went to my doctor and had a blood sugar of 153 mg/dl [8.5 mmol/L], but I was not told to fast before taking the finger test. Is that the proper way to take the test to determine if someone has diabetes?
Answer:
According to the American Diabetes Association Classification and Diagnosis of Diabetes guidelines, the recommended method is testing by measuring plasma glucose in a laboratory, not by fingerstick on a meter. Diagnosis is established if the fasting plasma glucose is equal to or greater than 126 mg/dl [7 mmol/L] or a random plasma glucose is equal to or greater than 200 mg/dl [11.1 mmol/L] and symptoms of diabetes are present. A diagnosis of diabetes must be confirmed, on a subsequent day, by measurement of a fasting glucose, or random glucose (if symptoms are present). The fasting test (defined as no caloric intake for at least eight hours) is greatly preferred.
LD