Q:How is diabetes diagnosed?

A: Diabetes is actually quite easy to diagnose. It's managing it that is the bigger challenge! If you suspect you have diabetes, ask your health care provider to check your blood glucose level using blood drawn from your vein (not from your finger). People diagnosed with type 1 diabetes most often develop symptoms of diabetes prior being diagnosed. The common diabetes symptoms are: thirst, frequent urinating, hunger, weight loss and tiredness. It is quite common for people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes to not have any symptoms of diabetes at diagnosis. Additionally, people with type 2 diabetes have often had high blood glucose levels for many years prior to being diagnosed.

To diagnose diabetes properly and according to the American Diabetes Association guidelines, you need to have two blood glucose measures that are higher than normal. The tests can be fasting (first thing in the morning for most people) or anytime of day, called random or casual. These should be done on two different days. To diagnose diabetes fasting blood glucose must be higher than 126 mg/dl and Random (any time of day) must be higher than 200 mg/dl. Two high fasting or two random blood glucose levels (or a combination thereof) are enough to diagnose diabetes. For most people, other than pregnant women, there is no need to have a 3 hour glucose tolerance test.

Keep in mind there is no such thing as "borderline diabetes" or a "touch of sugar"- either you have diabetes or you don't.

                    I f you have diabetes - both type 1 or type 2 - take it seriously! Take action now!

Millions of people around the world currently have blood glucose levels high enough now to diagnose diabetes, but they have not yet been diagnosed. ADA recommends that if you are over 45 years old and/or have several risk factors for diabetes, such as a parent or sibling with diabetes, are overweight, sedentary, are a woman who has had large (>9lbs) babies; get your blood glucose checked. If your blood glucose is normal, mark your calendar to get your blood glucose checked in another 3 years. If you are at high risk for getting diabetes, then you should start having your blood glucose checked when you are younger than 45 years old. (See Q: What is meant by pre-diabetes?)