Blood sugar test

A subject that not many people know a great deal about is their blood sugar level. They may have heard it mentioned in the same sentence as diabetes but that’s the extent of their knowledge. This article will give you a little more information and facts and tips about this subject.

Blood Sugar Figures

Prior to eating a meal your usual blood sugar level should be sandwiched between seventy and one hundred and ten mg/dl. After eating a meal you blood sugar level should increase and be somewhere between one hundred and one hundred and forty. If, however, the blood sugar level is calculated to be above one hundred and forty then this is thought of as a symptom of diabetes. Having a low blood sugar level under seventy is equally as serious and can cause a person to faint.

Testing the Blood Sugar Levels

If you think or your doctor suspects diabetes they will perform one of two tests on you. One of them is called the Fasting Plasma Glucose Test and this test is designed to measure your glucose levels following an eight hour fasting period. This test will show as positive if after eight hours of no consumption of foods or drinks your levels are above one hundred and forty. The usual person without diabetes will have a level of around seventy to one hundred and ten after a fasting period. The other type of test is called the Oral Glucose Tolerance Test and this involves measuring your body’s capability of dealing with excess sugar following consumption of a drink that is high in glucose. You will be tested every three hours and prior to this you will have been on a fast for ten hours with the exception of water. After the testing, if the plasma glucose level is above two hundred mg/dl again this will show the test as positive.

Gestational Diabetes

The Oral Glucose Tolerance Test can also diagnose Gestational Diabetes. This form of diabetes is formed when a pregnant woman’s glucose levels are lower than normal. Basically when a pregnant woman has two of her tests that are above the following figures then she is considered to have gestational diabetes; that is, if fasting plasma glucose level is 95 mg/dL, then at a one hour period the level is at 180 mg/dL, at a two hour period the level is at 155 mg/dL or after three hours the level shows 140 mg/dL.