When to get tested for diabetes

Posted on 10 November 2015

November is Diabetes Awareness Month – here’s why and where you should get etested.

Dr Jacques van Staden, a diabetes expert at Mediclinic George, says you should be tested any time you show classic symptoms of hyperglycaemia, including excessive urination, excessive thirst, weight loss and blurred vision.

Screening of asymptomatic people is done according to the 2012 SEMDSA (Society for Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes of South Africa) guidelines, Dr Van Staden explains. ‘High-risk individuals include adults of any age with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 25kg/m2 (overweight or obese), plus one or more additional risk factors for future diabetes.’

These risk factors include:
• physical inactivity
• hypertension (high blood pressure)
• a family history of diabetes
• dyslipidaemia (an abnormal amount of cholesterol and/or fat in the blood) polycystic ovarian syndrome
• a history of cardiovascular disease
• gestational diabetes or a baby weighing more than 4kg
• previous impaired fasting glucose or impaired glucose tolerance
• being from a high-risk ethnic group, for instance South Asian
• other conditions associated with insulin resistance.

If there are no risk factors, Dr Van Staden recommends that people older than 45 get tested every three years. More frequent tests are needed for people with multiple risk factors, or whose initial results and risk status indicate they need regular testing.

Diabetes tests are done in a healthcare setting, meaning a lab or a doctor’s office. The tests can be either a fasting plasma glucose (FPG) test, where your fasting blood glucose levels are tested after not eating or drinking for at least eight hours; or an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), a two-hour test that checks your blood glucose levels before and two hours after drinking a glucose drink. OGTT is the preferred test for high-risk individuals. Another test is the HbA1C tests, which measures your blood glucose for the previous two to three months.

Disclaimer: Excessive intake of calories in the form of sugars or carbohydrates may be harmful and the basis of a healthy lifestyle is a balanced diet with moderate food intake, moderate exercise and enough rest.

The information provided in this article was correct at the time of publishing. At Mediclinic we endeavour to provide our patients and readers with accurate and reliable information, which is why we continually review and update our content. However, due to the dynamic nature of clinical information and medicine, some information may from time to time become outdated prior to revision.