5 ways to check blood sugar

Testing blood sugar in the morning before you eat, two hours after a meal, and before going to bed can help you figure out what’s causing your blood sugar to rise and to what extent. For people with diabetes, regular blood sugar monitoring can help control blood sugar levels, preventing hyperglycemia. For those at risk of prediabetes, obesity or a family history of diabetes, it is important to check blood sugar levels to adjust lifestyle and activities accordingly.

Hyperglycemia is usually checked by a variety of ways, such as a fasting blood sugar (FPG) test, an A1C test, or a fructosamine test. Alternatively, hyperglycemia can be identified by using a blood glucose monitor or by drinking a beverage and comparing it to your body’s blood glucose response, which is called an oral glucose tolerance test. .

Check at home

A person has hyperglycemia when the glycemic index is higher than 130 mg/dL at fasting, the 2 hour postprandial glycemic index is higher than 180 mg/dL, or the random blood sugar test result is higher than 200 mg /dL.

Checking blood sugar at home is for people with diabetes, high blood sugar as well as people at risk of pre-diabetes and obesity who need to monitor blood sugar levels. Each person is provided with personal blood glucose goals by their doctor, based on which they compare blood glucose levels each day.

If after breakfast, blood sugar levels rise, you can review the foods you just consumed and adjust accordingly. Lunch and dinner are similar, once you identify the cause of the body’s high blood sugar, it will be easier to control. Experts note that, when testing blood sugar at home, you should pay attention to clean hands, check test strips for expired or quality problems to get accurate results.

The health care provider may order one or more tests to check for high blood sugar. Testing is done to screen for diabetes or to monitor prediabetes. These tests may be part of a routine physical exam or are recommended by your doctor when he suspects you are experiencing symptoms of hyperglycemia.

Check fasting blood sugar

The fasting blood sugar (FPG) test is a blood sugar measurement used to diagnose diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance. The fasting blood sugar test helps people with diabetes detect hyperglycemia. The medical staff will draw blood from the person being tested, usually from a fingertip and for analysis. Before doing a fasting blood sugar test, your doctor will ask you to fast for 8 hours.

Hyperglycemia is when the result is a blood sugar level of 100-126mg/dL. This result shows that you have a higher risk of developing diabetes. If your blood sugar is above 126 mg/dL, you have diabetes. Usually, the person being tested has to cross-check and perform a fasting blood sugar test for several days. If a reading above 130 mg/dL occurs for several days in a row, your doctor will confirm that you have diabetes.

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends a fasting blood sugar test to screen for diabetes in people 35 years of age and older. If results are normal, repeat at least every three years. Testing is also recommended for those who have just started puberty or after 10 years of age, depending on the condition and risk factors.

A1C . test

The A1C test shows a person’s average blood sugar level over the past 2-3 months. The person being sampled for testing will have a blood sampler drawn through a finger prick. The A1C test doesn’t need to be looked at.

For a person without diabetes, a typical A1C level is about 5%. An A1C of 5.7-6.4% indicates a person has hyperglycemia or prediabetes. For people with diabetes, the ADA recommends an A1C goal of less than 7%. The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists recommends 6.5% or less. Usually the A1C test is recommended twice a year but if you have hyperglycemia the test level will be increased.

Fructosamine test

The fructosamine test is a blood test similar to the hemoglobin A1C test, which measures blood glucose levels over a 2-3 week period. This method helps measure glycated proteins in the blood and is commonly used to measure blood sugar in people with sickle cell anemia or other hemoglobin variants.

The fructosamine test is not for use as a screening test for people who do not have diabetes or who have well controlled diabetes. The fructosamine test is used along with the blood sugar test when there are changes in insulin in the body. The fructosamine test is used in gestational diabetes because of its ability to observe changes that occur rapidly during pregnancy.

For people without diabetes, the fructosamine reading is at 175-280 mmol/L. For people with diabetes controlled fructosamine at 210-421 mmol/L. For people with uncontrolled diabetes this number is at 268-870 mmol/L.

Oral glucose tolerance test

An oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) helps determine the body’s ability to remove glucose from the blood. This test is used to diagnose diabetes, gestational diabetes, or prediabetes. An oral glucose tolerance test is not usually ordered to diagnose hyperglycemia in people who already have diabetes.

Most pregnant women should undergo this test, they are normally encouraged to have the test between 24-28 weeks of pregnancy. Women with diabetes risk factors are tested before 15 weeks of pregnancy. An oral glucose tolerance test is also used for postpartum women with a history of gestational diabetes, and is done 4-12 weeks after delivery.

With an oral glucose tolerance test, the person being tested will draw blood twice. One time on arrival and the next (a few hours later) after drinking a sugary (glucose-rich) beverage, which usually contains 75 grams of carbohydrates. The test results show how the body metabolizes sugar and whether the sugar is being eliminated from the bloodstream effectively.

For non-pregnant people, blood glucose after glucose tolerance after one hour is less than 200 mg/dL, after two hours below 140 mg/dL is normal. A blood glucose level of 140-199 mg/dL indicates impaired glucose tolerance (prediabetes), greater than 200 mg/dL indicates diabetes.

For those who are pregnant, a fasting blood glucose value of less than 92mg/dL, less than 180 mg/dL after one hour and less than 153 mg/dL after 2 hours is normal. After taking glucose, if the blood sugar level exceeds the upper limit, then the person is diagnosed with gestational diabetes.

Mr. Chi
(According to VeryWellHealth)