All Blood Tests

When a body produces higher levels of sugar within the bloodstream it is known as the disease diabetes. When someone has this disease, the body loses its ability to breakdown excess sugars by itself. In order to breakdown extra sugar you need to add insulin at regular intervals. The body will also require a diet specially constructed for someone with diabetes. If you think you may have diabetes, or it runs in your family, get a diabetes test done. The best test is a blood workup. When doctors first suspect that someone has diabetes, they do diabetes tests to make certain. One of these tests is a glucose test. This is one of the first steps in the actual determination of diabetes being present. Besides this diabetes test doctors will also check for standard symptoms, medical history and a physical exam. Sometimes the tests are not conclusive. Such as in the cases of someone who is extremely ill (illnesses cause your blood sugar to rise) as well as certain medications. Some medications that you take can raise your blood sugar levels to the point where it could show as though you are diabetic. Where diabetes is concerned the best way to determine it is by the glucose in the blood. The glucose test should be given after the morning when a person had not eaten since 12 the following evening. The glucose level should be above 140 mg/dl and the test should always be given twice. Besides the drawing of blood another diabetes test is a tolerance test which tests oral glucose. With this test you should never have anything to drink or eat for a minimum of 11 hours. If you do not follow this basic rule then the diabetes test could be off and ruin the results. First blood is drawn then you are given a glass of water with a mass amount of sugar in it. Thirty minutes later the test is given. The test is then repeated several more times. At one hour out, two hours and then at three hours. The downside to this test is that person must be in good shape and not on any medications for diabetes. Before doing any diabetes test you should steer clear from coffee and cigarettes. The glucose tolerance test measures your glucose levels within a three-hour period. It breaks down to about five separate diabetes tests in the course of that time frame. The glucose level of a person who drinks the sugar water will experience a raise five times then it will fall very rapidly. Someone who does not have the disease will find that his or her glucose level will fall in time. Many problems can come about when you have diabetes including excessive thirst, blurred vision, and fatigue and being very hungry while losing weight. Impotency can be found with Type 2 diabetes. It is important to be tested when some of these symptoms arise, especially if diabetes runs in the family. Diabetes is not the end of the world, but something that can be managed and lived with.