Levels of Normality in Glucose Intolerance Tests
Most foods, whether they are natural--an apple--or processed--pizza rolls--contain at least a tiny amount of sugar. The body has to be able to break down this sugar for cells to use it as food. Occasionally, the body has trouble doing this properly. The result? Thirst, fatigue, blurred vision, weight loss and even frequent urination. If you suspect that your body isn't handling sugar properly you can take a glucose intolerance test. These tests are designed to measure how much glucose is in the blood, and because the consequences of poor glucose tolerance are serious, normal standards have been established for these tests.
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What Is Glucose Intolerance?
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Normally, when you consume a food or drink that contains sugar, beta cells in the pancreas secrete a hormone known as insulin. This hormone helps cells to absorb and use sugar and metabolize fats and proteins. When you are glucose intolerant your body doesn't respond as well to the insulin produced, so you have a hard time keeping glucose levels from skyrocketing.
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Test Method
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Glucose intolerance tests are performed by a lab technician or nurse in a clinic or hospital. After you fast for several hours (usually overnight), the technician locates a sufficiently sized vein in the arm, draws blood from it and analyzes the amount of glucose in this first sample to get your fasting glucose level. While the first analysis is being done, you must drink a glucose solution in order to force your body to react with insulin. After an hour blood is drawn again and the second blood sample is analyzed in comparison with the first. If the test is extended, one or two more blood draws may be done.
Diabetes Test Values
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In 2009, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) released an article that outlined normal glucose levels for diabetes tests and prevention. ADA recommends that if you are suspected of having diabetes, then your glucose intolerance test will use a 75-gram glucose solution. Your glucose levels should be at 60 to 110 mg/dL fasting, less than 200 mg/dL at an hour, and less than 140 mg/dL after two hours. If your glucose level is more than 140 mg/dL but less than 200 mg/dL at the two-hour mark, you are considered to have impaired glucose tolerance. This means that you are having some trouble with glucose intolerance but that it has not yet progressed to full diabetes. If the blood test shows a 200 mg/dL glucose level at two hours, then you are diagnosed with complete glucose intolerance, or diabetes.
Gestational Diabetes Values
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In the same article ADA also discussed gestational diabetes testing standards. Gestational diabetes is glucose intolerance that occurs during pregnancy. You may have a 50- or 100-gram glucose solution for this test. The 50-gram test gauges reactions to the glucose solution after an hour, while the 100-gram test is extended over three hours. The ADA web page recommends that your blood glucose should be around 140 mg/dL at the hour mark with the 50-gram glucose solution. If you take the 100-gram solution, then the levels should be at 95 mg/dL (fasting);180 mg/dL (one hour); 155 mg/dL (two hours); and 140 mg/dL (three hours).
Considerations
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Certain factors can interfere with the results of glucose intolerance tests. Medications and lots of exercise may interfere with a person's metabolic rate. Additionally, certain diseases (e.g., Cushing's syndrome) may reveal high glucose levels as a symptom, so it is important for your doctor to rule out pre-existing conditions in order to have the test analyzed properly.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit "Doctor #2" is Copyrighted by Flickr user: ˙Cаvin 〄 (Andrew Kuznetsov) under the Creative Commons Attribution license.
