Monitoring blood glucose levels is crucial for managing diabetes. Hemoglobin A1c test measures glucose levels over a long period, while the oral glucose tolerance test determines how the body processes glucose. Home monitoring with a glucometer helps individuals manage their glucose levels and identify foods that cause spikes.
As anyone dealing with type I or type II diabetes knows, monitoring blood glucose levels is essential to maintaining health. In addition to daily patient monitoring, it is also important for healthcare professionals to use strategies that provide a snapshot of the rise and fall in blood sugar levels over an extended period of time. This means that effective glucose determination requires monitoring using two basic methods.
To determine whether someone is diabetic or prediabetic, doctors often use the so-called hemoglobin A1c test. Sometimes referred to as a glycosylated hemoglobin test, the process measures the percentage of hemoglobin found in red blood cells bound to glucose. One benefit of this test is that it provides a snapshot of glucose level activity over a long period of time, usually three to four months. Reviewing the results can help your doctor determine if there is a consistent pattern that indicates an ongoing problem.
The use of a hemoglobin A1c is also part of the ongoing process of determining glucose. Doctors regularly collect blood samples for this test once or twice a year, allowing them to determine whether oral medications, lifestyle changes, or other strategies currently used to manage glucose levels are working. This allows the doctor to make changes to treatment methods that will allow the individual to enjoy a better quality of life.
Another method of glucose determination that is sometimes used is the oral glucose tolerance test, or OGTT. This preparation for this test requires the patient to fast for a period of several hours before the blood sample is drawn. If the test results indicate that the blood sugar is outside what is considered a normal range, the doctor gives the patient a drink that has a high concentration of glucose. Blood samples are then taken at thirty-minute intervals over the next two hours, with each sample analyzed to determine the glucose concentration in the bloodstream throughout the period. If the body doesn’t seem to process glucose at an acceptable rate, there’s a good chance the individual has some form of diabetes.
Determining glucose on the home front is also important for diabetes management. Using a glucometer, individuals can check blood sugar levels at one- and two-hour intervals after consuming food. Not only does this help ensure that glucose levels stay within safe ranges, but it can also help the diabetic patient get an idea of which foods cause blood sugar spikes and which ones create a constant rise and fall that leave the levels within acceptable ranges. From that perspective, this kind of daily glucose determination is invaluable when it comes to learning to focus on foods that provide the right kind of carbohydrates for energy without consuming too many simple carbohydrates that cause unhealthy spikes.
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