Do I have Diabetes?
Diabetes is very clearly defined by the level of the blood sugar, which is actually called glucose. These are the criteria for making a diagnosis of diabetes:
- If your plasma (the liquid part of the blood) glucose in the fasting state (you have not eaten since dinner the night before) is 126 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl) or higher on two different occasions, you have diabetes. Using the International System of measurement, that would be 7 millimoles per liter (mmol/L).
- Alternately, if your casual plasma glucose (you have eaten normally prior to being tested) is greater than 200 mg/dl (11.1 mmol/L) on two separate occasions, you have diabetes.
- Finally, if your plasma glucose is 200 mg/dl (11.1 mmol/L) 2 hours after eating 75 grams of glucose, you have diabetes.
A fasting plasma glucose of 100 mg/dl (5.5 mmol/L) or less is considered a normal fasting plasma glucose. Between 100 and 126 is “impaired fasting glucose”.
A casual plasma glucose up to 140 mg/dl (7.8 mmol/L) is considered normal. Between 140 and 200 is “impaired glucose tolerance”.