QuestionHello. I understand that there is a new test to see if a person is diabetic especially if they have heart problems. Do you know the name of this new test? Thank you!
AnswerI know of no "new" test for diabetes. The standards for diagnosing diabetes become more agressive yearly. Now, any fasting sugar over 110 can be considered glucose intolerance. The diagnosis of diabetes is still a fasting sugar over 126. These are fairly universal standards. There are tests you can have done with respect to insulin levels, glucose tolerance tests, and C-reactive protein, though they are not new. Sometimes a glucose tolerance test can diagnose diabetes before a fasting sugar becomes frankly diabetic.
There are also a variety of factors that contribute to pre-diabetes, or what is now becoming known as "metabolic syndrome". This is a combination of obesity, high trigylcerides, low HDL, and high cholesterol and LDL, along with glucose intolerance. Many of us are now treating this syndrome with the same drugs and standards that we treat true diabetics.
Hope that helps.
