The GP will check your urine and arrange a blood test to check your blood sugar levels. It usually takes about 1 to 2 days for the results to come back. If you have diabetes, the GP will explain the test results and what will happen next.
The only way you can find out if you or a loved one has diabetes is from blood tests that measure you blood glucose (sugar) levels. These can be arranged through your GP. A diagnosis of diabetes is always confirmed by laboratory results. You'll usually get the results of your blood test back in a few days.
How is diabetes diagnosed? Diabetes is diagnosed and managed by checking your glucose level in a blood test. There are three tests that can measure your blood glucose level: fasting glucose test, random glucose test and A1c test.
How can I get tested? Speak to your doctor about having your risk of diabetes assessed. If your doctor thinks you should be tested, they will usually fill in a pathology request form, which you take to a pathology collection centre to have the blood test.
What Is Prediabetes? Prediabetes is a serious health condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough yet to be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes. Approximately 96 million American adults—more than 1 in 3—have prediabetes. Of those with prediabetes, more than 80% don't know they have it.
Anyone who wants to understand their risk of diabetes should take an at-home diabetes test. Because these kits only require blood from a finger prick, they're safe for most people to use. You can then use the results to see if you need medical guidance.
It's not always possible to reverse type 2 diabetes. But even if you can't get your blood sugar levels down with lifestyle changes alone and still need medication or insulin, these healthy habits help better manage your condition and may prevent complications from developing.
In people without symptoms, testing should begin at age 45 and every three years thereafter or earlier in adults who are overweight or obese—meaning a body mass index (a measure of body fat) ≥25 kg/m²—and have any of the following other risk factors: Parent or sibling with diabetes.
Symptoms of diabetes
increased thirst and hunger. frequent urination. weight loss or weight gain with no obvious cause. fatigue.
The A1C test measures your average blood sugar level over the past 2 or 3 months. An A1C below 5.7% is normal, between 5.7 and 6.4% indicates you have prediabetes, and 6.5% or higher indicates you have diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes can develop quickly over weeks or even days. Many people have type 2 diabetes for years without realising because the early symptoms tend to be general.
Three of the earliest signs of diabetes you may notice include frequent urination, increased thirst, and unexplained hunger. As your body tries to deal with increasing blood glucose levels, your kidneys need to work harder to filter out the glucose, meaning you will need to pee more often.
Drink in Moderation
Most people with diabetes can enjoy some alcohol. Rules are the same as for everyone else: one drink per day for women; two for men. But you need to know how alcohol affects your blood sugar. A sugary drink might spike your blood sugar.
When signs and symptoms are present, they may include: Increased thirst. Frequent urination. Increased hunger.
“Diabetes starts as a silent disease, advancing painlessly, almost imperceptibly,” says Dr. Ferrer, who sees 25 to 30 diabetic patients per week. “It mainly attacks the small blood vessels, damaging the kidneys, eyes, and nerves.” It can also affect larger blood vessels.
A water deprivation test involves not drinking any liquid for several hours to see how your body responds. If you have diabetes insipidus, you'll continue to pee large amounts of watery (dilute), light-colored urine when normally you'd only pee a small amount of concentrated, dark yellow urine.
Talk with your doctor if you believe you have diabetes. Getting on top of your condition and managing it effectively is key to controlling your symptoms and preventing more serious health problems.
Some sugar can be stored in the muscles and liver; however, most sugars are stored as fat when they have nowhere else to go. Thus, people with diabetes are more likely to be overweight or obese than those without the disease. While weight gain is one of the most common side effects of diabetes, it is not inevitable.
However, in the early stages of undiagnosed diabetes, excess sugar in the bloodstream may damage sensitive vessels in the eyes, causing blurred vision. Numbness in extremities. Also known as neuropathy, tingling sensations in the hands and feet can be early warning signs for diabetes.
The problem is ignoring or writing off the symptoms as something else can lead to more serious health complications later on. Left untreated, diabetes can lead to heart disease, stroke, nerve and kidney damage, vision loss and more. Even if you have mild blood sugar elevations, you can damage your organs.