Descriptions

Blood Sugar Test

What is a blood sugar test?

A blood sugar test is a procedure that measures the amount of sugar, or glucose, in your blood. Your doctor may order this test to help diagnose diabetes. People with diabetes can also use this test to manage their condition.

Blood sugar tests provide instant results and let you know the following:

• your diet or exercise routine needs to change

• how your diabetes medications or treatment is working

• if your blood sugar levels are high or low

• your overall treatment goals for diabetes are manageable

Types of blood sugar tests

You can take a blood sugar test two ways. People who are monitoring or managing their diabetes prick their fingers using a glucometer for daily testing. The other method is drawing blood.

Blood samples are generally used to screen for diabetes.

Your doctor will order a fasting blood sugar (FBS) test. This test measures your blood sugar levels, or glycosylated hemoglobin also called a hemoglobin A1C test. The results of this test reflect your blood sugar levels over the previous 90 days. The results will show if you have prediabetes or diabetes and can monitor how your diabetes is controlled.