• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Help! What do the numbers mean?

A

AshBash123

Newbie
Messages
3
Hi all,

My doctors office sent my blood test results via email but my doctor is on holiday for the next week. Can anyone shed light on what the numbers mean? How ‘bad’ is it? For context I’m 29 years old, F 5”8 and weigh 96kg (the LAST time I’m ever this big!) Thanks in advance.

Glucose fasting 5.5 mmol/L
Glucose 1hr 10.4 mmol/L
Glucose 2hr 7.9 mmol/L

Insulin fasting 36.9 u/ml
Insulin 1hr 450 u/ml
Insulin 2hr 297.2 u/ml
 
Hi and welcome. It's unusual to test for insulin itself but I suspect it may be to check if you have insulin resistance which many T2s will have thru excess weight. I'm not familiar with the insulin numbers. The only one of the glucose readings of relevance is the 2hour one and that number is fine (8.5.mmol is the NICE max number). Those glucose readings are random ones and not of great use. Normally the 'HBA1C' number is used and needs a blood test with blood taken from the arm. The HBA1C shows your average BS over 3 months so is very useful. This is the blood test used at annual diabetes reviews. So, the glucose number is OK but with the excess weight do make sure your diet is low-carb (150gm/day max target?) but have enough fats and proteins.
 

Hi, thanks for the welcome and thank you for replying. I did the HBA1C test but have yet to receive my results. I did a Google search which suggested I have insulin resistance but I thought it would be better to ask here, before I worry myself! It’s a shame my doctor isn’t available at the moment to explain the results.
 

Those numbers indicate it was an oral glucose tolerance test, used in the UK in helping to diagnose pre-diabetes, gestational diabetes in pregnant women, insulin resistance and reactive hypoglycemia.

@AshBash123 do you know if it was an OGTT (did you have to drink a glass of glucose after the fasting test? Sorry I can't help with the insulin resistance numbers.

What should the OGTT results be?
People without diabetes
  • Fasting value (before test): under 6 mmol/L
  • At 2 hours: under 7.8 mmol/L
People with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT)
  • Fasting value (before test): 6.0 to 7.0 mmol/L
  • At 2 hours: 7.9 to 11.0 mmol/L
Diabetic levels
  • Fasting value (before test): over 7.0 mmol/L
  • At 2 hours: over 11.0 mmol/L
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/oral-glucose-tolerance-test.html
 

Yep, I was given an orange liquid to drink after fasting. Thanks for the link!
 

You might find this video useful - the units used there will be mg/dl (multiply the mmol/l by 18 to get mg/dl).

Ed: and this video (about 14 minutes in)
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…