Diabetic Test - how do I read it?

[David48]

Diabetic Test - how do I read it?

Quick Background ...

My Thai gf is pregnant ... one of the standard tests is your blood sugar.

Hers was elevated, though I don't know the actual reading.

The Hospital says come back next week for the 3 stage testing procedure.

Fasting overnight, initial blood test, drink the glucose, test, test again after 1 hour, then test after two hours.

From her email ...

Fasting....limit 90 I got 81
1 hour.. ...limit 193 I got 193
2 hour.. ..limit 184 I got 137

During the week she changed her diet (apparently, we aren't in the same country ATM), cut out the fruit juices, limited the milk intake, brown rice instead of white ... that was about the extent of it.

We haven't got her 2^nd reading yet, but I'm trying to understand the test.

I did Google search it without definitive success.

Best I found was from the Mayo clinic which says this test is outdated ...

Oral glucose tolerance test.

For this test, which is rarely used anymore, you fast overnight, and the fasting blood sugar level is measured. Then you drink a sugary liquid, and blood sugar levels are tested periodically for the next two hours. A blood sugar level less than 140 mg/dL (7.8 mmol/L) is normal. A reading of more than 200 mg/dL (11.1 mmol/L) after two hours indicates diabetes. A reading between 140 and 199 mg/dL (7.8 mmol/L and 11.0 mmol/L) indicates prediabetes.

Can anyone, who has experience with this testing procedure (Oral glucose tolerance test) assist?

Thanks

Edited October 6, 2013 by David48

[AyG]

They are screening for gestational diabetes. A small percentage of women temporarily develops diabetes (a problem with handling sugar in the body) during pregnancy, and this can affect the development of the unborn child. Rather than type a more detailed explanation here, have a look at:

http://www.babycenter.com/0_gestational-diabetes_2058.bc

and

http://www.babycenter.com/0_glucose-screening-and-glucose-tolerance-tests_1483.bc

(The Mayo clinic article you link to is about general type 2 diabetes - not gestational diabetes - so isn't exactly relevant.)

[David48]

^^ That's frigging brilliant ...

Yep, knew it was about gestational diabetes ... but just hadn't chanced across a link with tied up up neatly.

From the 2nd link ...

If two or more of your readings are abnormal, you'll be diagnosed with gestational diabetes and you'll need to talk to your practitioner about a treatment plan. This chart shows the levels that the American Diabetes Association considers abnormal at each interval of the test:

Interval Abnormal reading

Fasting - 95 mg/dl or higher

1 hour - 180 mg/dl or higher

2 hours - 155 mg/dl or higher

3 hours - 140 mg/dl or higher

Welcoming more replies ... but that was a great first response.

[richard_smith237]

David - It seems many of our issues overlap... First the DVT and now this...

My Wife is pregnant and has developed Gestational Diabetes... Its not a worry in itself, just something we need to keep an eye on and control.

This was discovered after routine testing at 26 weeks.

A Simple Initial Test: i.e. Take 50ml amount of Sugary liquid and test the Blood Sugar levels 1 hr later. This warranted a follow up test.

The Follow Test: 100ml of Sugary Liquid and Blood Sugar levels were checked at the 1 hr, 2 hr, 3 hr an 4 hr marks.

This confirmed Gestational Diabetes.

My Wife now performs a Blood Sugar test 7 times daily: Before food and 2 hrs after at main meals (Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner) and before sleeping.

The Target Range is between 90-130 mg/dl

The most effective control has been to cut out processed Carbs: i.e. White Rice (Switch to brown rice), Cut down on noodles, no more desserts after lunch or dinner. If in a restaurant and the Thai Soup (i.e. Tom Yum) tastes sugary (sweet) don't eat much of it.

For 4 weeks now the high Range has only been exceeded on 3 tests, thus we have this well under control but will continue to test as the pregnancy continues.

I also plan for my Wife to test on a fairly regular basis after birth as there is now a higher risk of developing normal diabetes (not due to pregnancy, just a statistic).