The amount of glucose (sugar) in your blood may be measured via a blood glucose test. A blood sample from your vein or a finger prick might be used for the test. Blood sugar levels tests are most often used by healthcare professionals to check for Type 2 diabetes, which is a prevalent illness.
A blood glucose (sugar) test is what, exactly?
A blood glucose test measures the amount of glucose (sugar) in your blood and is mostly used to check for diabetes.
Blood glucose testing comes in two primary categories:
A healthcare expert draws a drop of blood, often from a fingertip prick, for a capillary blood glucose test. These tests use a test strip and glucose meter (glucometer), which provide an instantaneous reading of your blood sugar level.
A phlebotomist performs a venipuncture to obtain a sample of blood for a venous (plasma) blood glucose test. Typically, a blood panel, such as a basic metabolic panel, includes these glucose tests. The supplier will deliver the samples to a laboratory. Your samples will be prepared there by a medical laboratory scientist, who will also run the test on analyzers.
Capillary blood glucose testing are often less precise than venous blood glucose tests.
Fasting blood glucose tests are often requested by medical professionals to check for diabetes. Fasting blood glucose tests provide a more accurate picture of your baseline blood sugar since consuming meals impacts blood sugar levels.
For those with diabetes, there is also at-home blood sugar testing (using a glucometer). To properly control their illness, people with Type 1 diabetes in particular need to check their blood sugar many times every day. Devices for continuous glucose monitoring (CGMs) provide an additional choice in this.
What does blood sugar (glucose) mean?
The primary source of glucose (sugar) in your diet is carbohydrate-rich foods and beverages. It is the primary energy source for your body. All of the cells in your body get glucose from your blood to be used as fuel.
Your blood glucose is maintained in a healthy range by a number of physiological mechanisms. The major factor in maintaining appropriate blood sugar levels is the hormone insulin, which is produced by your pancreas.
Hyperglycemia, or increased blood sugar levels, is often a sign of diabetes. Diabetes occurs when your pancreas either produces insufficient amounts of insulin or none at all, or when your body does not react appropriately to the effects of insulin.
When is a blood glucose test necessary?
You could need a blood glucose (sugar) test for the following three primary causes:
Your doctor may have prescribed a basic metabolic panel (BMP) or comprehensive metabolic panel (CMP), both of which include a blood test for glucose.
You can be experiencing low blood sugar or high blood sugar symptoms, which might be a sign of diabetes or another ailment.
Routine blood tests for glucose may be required to check your blood sugar levels if you regularly take a drug like corticosteroids that affects blood sugar levels.
A blood glucose test is most often used to check for Type 2 diabetes (T2D), which is a prevalent illness. A certain population is vulnerable to Type 2 diabetes. No of your age, your doctor will probably advise routine screening if you have risk factors. Anyone 35 years of age or older should have frequent screenings, according to the American Diabetes Association.
If you exhibit signs of hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) or hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), your doctor may additionally prescribe a blood glucose test.
Diabetes and high blood sugar symptoms include:
- Having several thirsts (polydipsia)
- Polyuria, or a lot of urinating
- Fatigue
- Having several hungers (polyphagia)
- Loss of weight without cause
- Vision that is hazy
- Cut or sore healing takes time
Go to the local emergency department as soon as you can if you or your kid also experience vomiting, hard breathing, and/or disorientation. You can have diabetic ketoacidosis, a disease that puts your life in danger.
Low blood sugar symptoms include:
- Trembling or shaking
- Chills and sweat
- A feeling of faintness or dizziness
- A quicker heartbeat
- Severe hunger
- A feeling of anxiety or anger
To cure hypoglycemia, you must eat carbs (sugar), such as a banana or apple juice. Hypoglycemia that is severe may be fatal.
Who administers a blood sugar test?
A capillary blood glucose test (finger prick) may be performed by a variety of healthcare professionals, including nurses. These tests use a glucose meter and a test strip, and the results of your blood sugar level are shown instantly.
Venous blood glucose testing is normally carried out by phlebotomists. The samples are sent to a lab for analysis.
TEST INFORMATION
How should I get ready for a blood sugar test?
You must refrain from eating or drinking anything other than water for eight to ten hours before the test if your healthcare professional has prescribed a fasting blood glucose test.
You may also need to fast for a number of hours prior to your blood collection if your blood glucose test is a component of a basic or comprehensive metabolic panel. In any event, if there are any specific instructions that you need to follow, your healthcare practitioner will let you know.
What can I anticipate from a blood glucose test?
During a blood draw or venous glucose test, you may anticipate the following:
- A phlebotomist will examine your arms while you sit in a chair to see whether there is an accessible vein. This is often on the other side of your elbow, on the inside portion of your arm.
- After finding a vein, they will clean and sanitize the region.
- They will next use a tiny needle to draw blood from a vein in your arm. It could feel like a little pinch.
- A tiny quantity of blood will accumulate in a test tube after the needle has been inserted.
- Once there is sufficient blood for testing, they will take out the needle and apply gauze or cotton to the wound to stop the bleeding.
- Then you’ll be done, and they’ll cover the wound with a bandage.
During a capillary blood glucose test (finger prick), you may anticipate the following:
- Which finger would you wish the medical professional to use?
- Your fingertip will be cleaned with an alcohol swab before being punctured with a lancet, a tiny needle that is often housed inside of a tiny plastic device.
- They will pinch the tip of your finger to create a blood drop.
- Your fingertip or a drop of blood will be placed against a test strip that has been put into a glucometer.
- You will be given a cotton ball or piece of gauze to hold against your fingertip to stop the bleeding after they have collected enough blood for the test.
- Within seconds, the glucometer will display your blood glucose level.
What dangers are associated with a blood sugar test?
A highly frequent and crucial component of medical screening and testing are blood tests. A glucose blood test, any form, has relatively little risk. At the location of the blood draw or finger prick, you can have a little amount of discomfort or bruising, but this normally goes away soon.
CONCLUSIONS AND FOLLOW-UP
What does a blood glucose test’s outcome mean?
The following details are often included in blood test results, including blood glucose test reports:
- The name of the blood test or the results of the blood analysis.
- Your blood test’s result, expressed as a number or measurement.
- A test’s typical measurement range.
- Information indicating if your result is high, low, normal, or abnormal.
What is a typical blood glucose reading?
For a person without diabetes, a healthy (normal) fasting blood glucose level is between 70 and 99 mg/dL (3.9 and 5.5 mmol/L). People without diabetes may also have “normal” values between 50 and 70 mg/dL (2.8 to 3.9 mmol/L).
What does having high blood sugar mean?
You typically have prediabetes if your fasting blood glucose level is between 100 and 125 mg/dL (5.6 and 6.9 mmol/L). In the following five to ten years, those with prediabetes have a 50% probability of getting Type 2 diabetes. However, you may take measures to stop Type 2 diabetes from occurring.
You likely have diabetes if your fasting blood glucose level is 126 mg/dl (7.0 mmol/L) or above on many occasions of testing.
In each of these scenarios, your doctor would probably request an A1c test before determining if you have diabetes or prediabetes. Your average blood sugar after a few months is shown by an A1c.
There are several varieties of diabetes. The most typical types are:
- Type 2 diabetes (T2D): High blood glucose levels are the consequence of insufficient insulin production by the pancreas or poor insulin utilization by the body (insulin resistance). The most typical kind of diabetes is this one.
- Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune condition in which the immune system mistakenly destroys the cells in the pancreas that make insulin. Insulin can no longer be produced by your pancreas. People with Type 1 diabetes often have extremely high blood sugar levels (200 mg/dL, or 11.1 mmol/L, or more) at the time of diagnosis.
- Gestational diabetes: This illness may occur in pregnant women; it often does so between 24 and 28 weeks into the pregnancy. Once the pregnancy is finished, the diabetes-related elevated blood sugar goes away. A glucose challenge test or glucose tolerance test is used to assess pregnant women for gestational diabetes.
Additional root causes of high blood sugar
High glucose levels might also result from:
- Adrenal gland problems, such as Cushing syndrome
- Pancreas-related problems, such as pancreatitis
- Hyperthyroidism
- Being under a lot of stress, such as after an operation or a trauma
- Some drugs, particularly corticosteroids
What does having low blood sugar mean?
Typically, a blood sugar value of 70 mg/dL or less is regarded as low.
Persons with Type 1 diabetes and persons with Type 2 diabetes who take particular drugs often have low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) episodes. People without diabetes experience them considerably less often.
Low blood sugar levels may be an indication of, even without diabetes:
- Liver illness.
- Kidney illness.
- Hypothyroidism.
- (Insufficiency of the adrenals) Addison disease
- (AUD) Alcohol use disorder
- (An uncommon tumor) Insulinoma
These ailments often result in low blood sugar episodes. People without diabetes often don’t need to be concerned about a single low blood sugar test result.
If my blood glucose levels are high or low, should I be worried?
It’s not always a sign of a medical illness if the results of your blood glucose test show that you have high or low levels of glucose. Your levels may also be impacted by other elements, such as certain drugs and not fasting. Additionally, there may have been a mistake in the collecting, delivery, or processing of the test.
To detect diabetes or another illness, doctors use more than one blood glucose test. In any event, your doctor will thoughtfully analyze your findings and go through them with you.
When should I be informed of a blood glucose test’s results?
You should typically get the results of your venous blood glucose test in 1 or 2 days.
Results of capillary blood glucose testing are shown on the glucometer in only a few seconds.
Contact your healthcare professional as soon as possible if you have any alarming low blood sugar or high blood sugar symptoms.