I recently went to donate plasma at a local center and was rejected because they detected what they said was a very high amount of glucose in my urine sample. They suggested I get screened for diabetes with my regular physician. However, my physician is booked way in advance, and I’m nervous. I was able to get to the lab and get a blood test done and the glycosylated hemoglobin test done which was 5.6% (normal). I guess I don’t know what to make of these conflicting results. Are there a lot of causes of high glucose levels in urine that aren’t diabetes? I’m just not sure what to make of this.

Diabetes is not diagnosed with the glycosylated hemoglobin test. It is not sensitive enough for diagnosis purposes. You need a fasting glucose to begin with.

JTL

[Editor’s comment: See Classification and Diagnosis of Diabetes Guidelines.

SS]

[Editor’s comment: Testing for diabetes should include blood sugar levels performed by a medical laboratory. The timing of the sample (fasting, random, or postprandial) would influence how high a level is considered abnormal.

Occasionally, lab blood sugar testing might be normal in an early case of diabetes, repeat blood sugar testing at the same or a different time, or performing a glucose tolerance test, might be appropriate if there is a high suspicion of diabetes despite normal initial testing. As mentioned above, the glycosylated hemoglobin, might be used to help confirm a suspected diagnosis of diabetes, but the GHB (also called HbA1c or A1c) is not usually considered as appropriate to make an initial diagnosis.

Urine sugar tests, when positive, as in your case, would make the situation more urgent to get lab testing done to confirm the abnormal results.

WWQ]