Diabetes Screening.

Diabetes screening and diagnosis are totally different matters. Only when a person show signs of diabetes is diagnosis done. When it comes to screening, the aim is to find out if people without symptoms but at great risk of diabetes could be suffering it. Different standard tests are used for screening people for diabetes.

When is there a necessity for screening?

Screening is carried out when the following conditions are fulfilled:

1. The sickness is serious health problem involving the public. In fact, diabetes is a worldwide disease.
2. A full understanding of the disease and its course is possible.
3. The sickness has no symptoms before its diagnosis.
4. Tests are available to diagnose the sickness before any medical treatment has been given.
5. The people suffering from the disease can benefit if treatment is given.
6. The cost of tests for screening is not excessive.
7. There is an opportunity to screen a number of times for a fairly long period, not a once only act.

Conditions 1 to 4 are fulfilled by diabetes.

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Diabetes Screening

For those who are not yet diabetic, diabetes screening should start at the age of 45 and such screening is again done once in 3 years. Medical judgement and the patient’€™s choice are the factors deciding on whether a diabetic test is necessary. When it comes to those people who face a greater risk due to obesity or genetic inheritance, diabetes testing ought to be started at an even younger age. Of course, those who exhibit diabetes symptoms ought to get diabetes testing.

An increase has been noticed in the number of children and adolescents suffering from diabetes, more so in type 2. It is the recommendation of the ADA (American Diabetes Association) that any overweight youth with two possible risks for diabetes be screened. Overweight means the body mass index (BMI) is more than 85% for age and sex, the weight compared with the height is more than 85%, when weight is more than 120% of ideal weight and more than 50% for the height. Should the risks factors be evident at an earlier age, at the age of about 10 and once in two years thereafter, the youngster ought to have diabetes screening.

What Are the Risk Factors?

• Diabetics in the family.
• Particular race such as Asians/South Pacific Islanders , Hispanic Americans, African-Americans, and Native Americans.
• Suffering from insulin resistance or health problems linked to insulin resistance such as high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, acanthosis nigricans or polycystic ovary syndrome.

Diabetes Screening Tests

The FPG (fasting plasma glucose), which is a necessary test in diabetes diagnosis, is also the best for screening it. Besides the FPG, the 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) can be used for diagnosis of diabetes. However, the fasting glucose test performs faster and is less expensive, and so is preferred. More tests need to be done if the reading of a fasting blood glucose exceeds 7 mmol/L or 126 mg/dL.

If the FPG (fasting plasma glucose) reading exceeds 6.1 mmol/L or 110 mg/dl, but lower than 7 mmol/L or 126 mg/dL, glucose tolerance is said to be weakened and indicates the possibility of diabetes in the near future.

At present A1c tests are not being used in the diagnosis or screening of diabetes although its test values are useful in the management of glycemia.