 |
 |
Send to a Friend |
Basic skills for living with diabetes: Diagnosing diabetes
Diabetes is not diagnosed by the symptoms it causes. You must have a test to measure blood glucose* to find out if you have diabetes.
Diagnosis Tests | Tests | |
 | Fasting | Casual |
Diabetes | 126 mg/dL or higher on two occasions | 200 mg/dL or higher (with symptoms) |
“Pre Diabetes” | 100-125 mg/dL (IFG**: when your blood glucose is too high in the morning) | 140-199 mg/dL (IGT**: when your blood glucose is too high during the day) |
Normal less than | less than 100 mg/dL | less than 140 mg/dL |
** IFG stands for impaired fasting glucose. IGT stands for impaired glucose tolerance. | ||
*Note: We used the word glucose instead of the word sugar so it does not get it confused with the sugar in food.
Related Links
How diabetes affects your body
Tools for managing your diabetes
Source: Allina Patient Education, Basic Skills for Living with Diabetes, fourth edition, ISBN 1-931876-16-9
First published: 12/01/2006
Last updated: 12/01/2006
Reviewed by: Allina Patient Education experts