Diagnosing pre-diabetes

[GaryL-1957]

Hi,

There is an article on the home-page that implies an FGT or OGTT is needed before a diagnosis of pre-diabetes can be made. My doctor has told me I'm pre-diabetic based on an HbA1c test. Is that not enough?

 

[May Mic]

I've only had the A1C to diagnose my pre- diabetes.
My last one pushed me into the diabetic range so in a few days I'll get another test to see if I have done enough to reign it in.

 

[Paul_]

Hi,

There is an article on the home-page that implies an FGT or OGTT is needed before a diagnosis of pre-diabetes can be made. My doctor has told me I'm pre-diabetic based on an HbA1c test. Is that not enough?

Hba1c is now the standard test in the UK (and other countries) to diagnose diabetes and pre-diabetes. If you get a borderline result, your doctor may retest at a later date to confirm it wasn't a testing error.

What was your hba1c result, if you don't mind me asking?

 

[ianf0ster]

Hi @GaryL-1957 and welcome to the forum.
Is there? Personally. I don't recall seeing that though I rarely look at the home page.
As with the other UK Diabetes Forum, this forum is somewhat separate from the main website.

The main website (and also this forum to a lesser extent) tends to be very much international. We have US, Australian, Canadian, Dutch, Russian, Kiwi members that I can think of (probably lots more nationalities and locations.
Different methods for diagnosis of diabetes and pre-diabetes (or 'at risk of Diabetes' as it's sometimes called) exist in different countries. Also on the USA for example, a lower HbA1C level is the lower end of Pre-diabetes than is the case in the UK (and several other countries).

I hope this helps.

 

[GaryL-1957]

Hba1c is now the standard test in the UK (and other countries) to diagnose diabetes and pre-diabetes. If you get a borderline result, your doctor may retest at a later date to confirm it wasn't a testing error.

What was your hba1c result, if you don't mind me asking?

Hi Paul,
Thanks for getting back to me.
My HbA1c was 6%, so I've only just crept into the pre-diabetes realm.

 

[GaryL-1957]

I've only had the A1C to diagnose my pre- diabetes.
My last one pushed me into the diabetic range so in a few days I'll get another test to see if I have done enough to reign it in.

Thanks May.

 

[KennyA]

Hi,

There is an article on the home-page that implies an FGT or OGTT is needed before a diagnosis of pre-diabetes can be made. My doctor has told me I'm pre-diabetic based on an HbA1c test. Is that not enough?

Most people get their T2 diagnosis in the UK via an HbA1c test. The other etsts are used in some circumstances (eg pregnancy) where they might give a better indiaction than the HbA1c. A result of 48 or over triggers an automatic T2 diagnosis, but if you're on or around 48/49 they normally do a second confirmatory test, as there's a bit of allowable error.

You've been given your result as a percentage: this is the older DCCT system which is not used much anywhere outside the USA these days. 5.5, 6.0, and 6.5% are broadly equivalent to 37/8 (start of normal range) 41/42 (end of normal range) and 48 (where T2 is autonatically diagnosed).

Pre-diabetes isn't actually a disease itself so can't be diagnosed - it just means you've had a blood glucose reading somewhere in the range 42-47. This is of course above the normal, non-diabetic, BG range of 38-42. In my opinion the fact that your BG is out of normal range is, or should be, a signal that you need to take action.

So I'm not dismissing this: I had a range of nasty diabetic symptoms starting while my BG was 42/43, and increasing as my BG rose. My practice insisted I wasn't diabetic (because my "blood sugar wasn't high") so I missed the chance to do something about it early, and had ten years of symptoms I could have been without.