Who should be screened for diabetes?
admin | Jan 10, 2011 | Comments 0
The American Diabetes Association recommends that all adults over
the age of forty-five should get a fasting blood glucose measured. A
normal result is under 100 mg/dL (5.9 mmol/L). If this is the result you get, then you will be advised to get it repeated in three to five years. If your result is above 125 mg/dL (6.9 mmol/L), then you should have the test repeated within a week or two. If it is above 125
mg/dL on a second test, then you have diabetes. If your fasting blood
glucose is between 100 and 125 mg/dL (or if the first test was over
125 mg/dL but the second one was below 125 mg/dL), then you have
impaired glucose tolerance and are at risk of getting diabetes in the
future. You will be advised to change some things in your lifestyle (by
modifying what you eat and how much you exercise, for example) and will be asked to get your fasting blood glucose repeated every year.
Certain groups of people are at higher risk of getting type 2 diabetes, and they are often screened at earlier ages and more often. Certain ethnic groups (Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, Hispanics, and African Americans), people who have a family history of type 2 diabetes, and women who have had gestational diabetes are all at higher risk of getting diabetes.
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