From Brownfield, Texas, USA

My three year old son is always thirsty and is wetting his pull-up quite a bit. He will wake up during the night wanting something to drink. The doctor did a urine test which was normal, but now he wants to do a five-hour glucose test. Is this necessary? I am worried about my son, but I do not want to do unnecessary tests on him.

The answer to this question is a little complicated. Further testing may be necessary if your physician suspects that your child is at risk for diabetes. This is only done with a thorough history and physical examination. If you trust your physician, I would follow his advice. If he’d like to do a glucose tolerance test, it is a test that is exceedingly well tolerated with children and should pose no potential to harm your son. However, I would usually recommend doing repeated urine tests if I suspect early diabetes rather than a glucose tolerance test in a three year old.

MSB

[Editor’s comment: Another approach is to do a fasting blood sugar, have your son eat a large breakfast, and then check another blood sugar two hours later. This avoids the long ordeal of a five-hour glucose tolerance test. See Classification and Diagnosis of Diabetes Guidelines.

SS]