All Blood tests done for Diabetes Mellitus

Introduction

Diabetes Mellitus is a chronic condition that affects the body’s ability to process glucose, where hyperglycemia is the main condition seen (the blood glucose level is too high). Diabetes mellitus is of two types Type 1 Diabetes mellitus and Type 2 Diabetes mellitus. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that occurs when the body’s immune system attacks the pancreas or beta cell damage, leading to total insulin absorption deficiency, and type 2 is when the body becomes resistant to insulin with relative insulin deficiency. Type 1 diabetes has a common symptom like microvascular change in which small blood vessels like capillaries get affected and cause diabetic retinopathy, diabetic nephropathy, and diabetic neuropathy. Diabetes occurs due to metabolic disorders that disrupt the ability of the body to process and distribute nutrition, carbs, fats, etc.

There are different ways to diagnose diabetes mellitus and Prediabetes and are-

1. HbA1C (Glycated hemoglobin test)

HbA1C is done to measure the blood glucose levels from the past 2- 3 months.

• How to perform – It is done by talking blood from the vein. HbA1c test does not require fasting and can be done at any time of the day
• Results – Non diabetic – 4% to 5.6% diabetic with good control – 5.6% to 7 %, fair control is between 7% to 8% and poor control is above 8%

2. PPBS (Post Prandial Blood Sugar)

In this test the blood glucose level is measured after 2 hours of the meals.

• How to perform – Here blood sample is taken from the veins. Fasting of at least 8 hrs is required after that person can have a standardized meal or a meal of his choice (after breakfast) then after 2 hours of meal the blood sample is to be taken.
• Range of PPBS are – Normal range – if PPBS level ranges less than 140 mg/dl,
• Prediabetes – PPBS level ranges from 140 mg/dl – 199 mg/dl, Diabetes – if PPBS levels are more than 200 mg/dl.

3. FBS (Fasting Blood Sugar)

Here blood is to be collected from a person’s vein. This test measures the level of glucose in the body before food in an empty stomach. So the range also differ from PPBS.

• How to perform – After 8 hours of fasting usually done in the morning before breakfast blood is collected.
• Ranges – Normal level is – 99 mg/dl or less, Prediabetes – 100 to 125 mg/dl and diabetic is 125 mg/dl and above.

4. OGTT (Oral Glucose Tolerance Test)

This test measures how well our body uses glucose, often used to diagnose diabetes and prediabetes, especially common during pregnancy to screen for gestational diabetes.

• How to perform – Here after 8 hours of fasting the health professional will collect the blood from the vein and after that person has to drink liquid containing 75 gm of glucose then after every 30 or 60 min later blood is taken for up to 3 hours.
• Ranges are – If there is high blood glucose level in any 2 or 3 times of blood test indicated diabetes. The test can help diagnose or monitor other conditions that affect blood glucose.

5. Urine Glucose Test

This test is done by taking urine samples and in which the amount of glucose level is measured which shows the presence of abnormal glucose level in the urine (glycosuria).

• How to perform – Here the urine sample is collected and tested with a dipstick which changes colour if there Glycosuria (Glucose in Urine) is used when blood glucose testing is difficult.

6. C-Peptide Test

This test used to measure the amount of c-peptides in blood or urine, determines how much insulin the pancreas is making.

• How to perform – For this test, a person should be on fasting for 8 to 12 hours then have to give a blood sample (blood from a vein) or urine sample to the lab or in hospital.
• Results – Low C-peptide level means – low production of insulin and high c-peptide level means – high production of insulin.

7. Insulin Autoantibody Test

This test is done by taking blood from veins, 8 hours of fasting is required for this test where we see for the amount of antibodies in the blood and which are directed against insulin. Used to check for allergic reactions to insulin. check if Insulin is controlling diabetes or not. To check the sugar levels are increasing for unexpected reasons.

• Results – High levels of IgE antibodies against insulin indicate an allergic reaction and high levels of IgG and IgM antibodies against insulin indicate that the body is treating insulin as foreign body.

8. A Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase (Gad) Autoantibodies Test

This test is also known as a GAD antibody test which means blood test which detects the presence of antibody against glutamic acid decarboxylase, is a enzyme primary found in pancreas, which can indicate an autoimmune response often associated with type 1 diabetes and certain neurological disorders.

• How to perform – By taking blood samples from the vein of the arm.
• Result – Positive glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantibodies test means the body’s immune system is attacking its own GAD- producing cells, and negative results shows there can be other antibodies involved not necessarily rule out autoimmune diabetes.

9. Insulinoma-Associated 2 (Ia-2) Autoantibodies Test

This test is done to check for autoantibodies against IA-2 in blood samples that attach with beta cells of pancreas and trigger the immune system to attack and destroy them leading to insulin deficiency.

• Results – A positive result indicates the presence of autoantibodies against IA-2 and A negative result indicates the absence of autoantibodies against IA-2.

Conclusion

Diabetes is a disease which is very common these days in India that every 11 people out of 100 is diabetic these days, due to the lifestyle of the people these days. There are different complications seen in diabetes and there are different measures to calculate the diabetes mellitus as mentioned, it can be according to the condition of patients the autoimmune test or antibody test is done in type1 diabetes to see the resistance of insulin or body cells respond to insulin, there are different ways to detect diabetes in the body.