How is prediabetes diagnosed?
Two tests are generally used to diagnose prediabetes:
In a fasting glucose test, a sample of your blood is drawn after you have fasted for eight to 12 hours. Your blood glucose is measured to see whether it is above the normal range (below 100 mg/dl). Prediabetes is diagnosed if your fasting glucose level is between 100 and 125 mg/dl; if so, you are said to have impaired fasting glucose (IFG). If the fasting blood glucose level rises to 126 mg/dl or above, you have diabetes.
In the oral glucose tolerance test, blood tests are done after you have fasted for eight to 12 hours and consumed a sugar-filled liquid. Normally, blood glucose rises no higher than 140 mg/dl two hours after the drink. In people with prediabetes, the two-hour blood glucose is between 140 and 199 mg/dl; if you fall in this range,you have impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). If the two-hour blood glucose rises to 200 mg/dl or above, the diagnosis is diabetes.
Both IFG and IGT are medical terms for prediabetes. If you have prediabetes, you should be tested every one to two years to make sure you are not developing diabetes.
People with so-called metabolic syndrome are also considered to have prediabetes. Metabolic syndrome is a condition in which one has several problems at once: obesity, insulin resistance, high blood pressure, and abnormal cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
