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Blood Sugar Test

Blood sugar tests measure the amount of sugar or glucose in the blood. Glucose comes from carbohydrate foods and is the main source of energy used by your body. Insulin is a hormone which helps the body’s cells to use the glucose. The insulin is made in the pancreas and is sent to the blood when the amount of sugar in the blood rises.

Ordinarily, the blood glucose levels increase a little after you have finished eating. This causes the pancreas to give off insulin so that the blood levels do not get to high. Glucose levels that stay high over a long period of time can damage the eyes, the kidneys, the nerves and blood vessels.

There are several different types of blood sugar tests used; fasting blood sugar, 2 hour blood sugar test, random blood sugar, and oral glucose tolerance test. The tests are done to check for diabetes as well as to monitor the treatment of existing diabetes conditions. They are used to check for diabetes that might occur during a pregnancy and to determine if low blood sugar is present.

For the fasting blood sugar test, you are asked not to eat or drink anything but water for at least 8 hours before the test is done. If you already have diabetes, you could be asked to not take your normal morning insulin or medication until after the blood test is done.

For the 2 hour test, you have to eat a meal 2 hours before the sample of blood is taken. The most common way to check 2 hour levels is with a home blood sugar test.

The random blood sugar need no special preparation before having the test done. The best advice is to talk to your doctor with regards to any of the tests, their possible risks, how they are performed and what the results might mean.

To have the tests done, either the doctor or some other health care professional will usually wrap the arm with an elastic to stop the blood flow, take blood from a prepared vein and fill an attached tube with the blood. The elastic is removed after the sample is taken and a pad or band aid is applied to cover the area where the blood was taken. The results of your tests are usually ready in about 1 or 2 hours. Tests taken from your vein may differ from those from a finger stick.

Normal test results may vary from lab to lab and many conditions can change your blood levels. Any concerns that you might have about the tests or the results, should be discussed with your doctor.

A few of the reasons why you may not be able to have blood sugar test or why the results might not be helpful could include the fact that you ate of drank less then 8 hours before the fasting blood test or less the 2 hours before the 2 hour test, if you drank alcohol, or if you are ill or under emotional stress, or have been smoking or drinking caffeine.

In addition, taking such medicines such as birth control pills or medicines that are used to treat high blood pressure conditions etc., could cause changes to the results.

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