How to Diagnose Diabetes

"Hi! My name is Brenda Thompson, registered dietitian and owner of Life Skills Nutrition. In this segment, I'm going to talk about diagnosing diabetes. There are 2 ways that the American Diabetes Association recommends testing to see if you have diabetes. The first one is Fasting Plasma Glucose Test, that's the FPG, or an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test, the OGTT. Either test can be used to test for diabetes or pre-diabetes. However, the American Diabetes Association does recommend the FPG because it is less expensive. If you look over here, this is the Fasting Plasma Glucose Test. After fasting, they will go in and check your blood sugars. If you are normal, they will be under 100 mg/dl. For someone who has pre-diabetes, they will be less than or equal to 100 mg/dl or 125 mg/dl. Someone who has diabetes will be greater than or equal to 126 mg/dl. That means that you have diabetes. Remember, the Fasting Glucose Test is the less expensive one. The Oral Glucose Tolerance Test is also and efficient way to be diagnosed with diabetes. After fasting, you will drink a sugary drink for 2 hours, and then you will be tested. For those who have a blood sugar of under 140 mg/dl, they will be normal. Someone with pre-diabetes will be equal to or greater than 140 mg/dl to 200 mg/dl. Those who have diabetes are greater than or equal to 200 mg/dl. That means that they have diabetes. Those are the 2 tests the American Diabetes recommend for diagnosing diabetes."