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What Is a Blood Glucose Screening?

Blood glucose screening measures the amount of glucose, or sugar, in your body. Your doctor will use a blood sample to determine if you have elevated, normal or low levels of glucose in your blood.

  1. Function

    • Glucose testing is typically used to rule out diabetes and pre-diabetes. Patients should be tested regularly if diabetes runs in the family, they are overweight, or over the age of 40, says LabTestsOnline.org.

    Procedure

    • Most glucose tests are performed after an eight to 10-hour fast, reports LabTestsOnline.org. If you are diabetic, your doctor may schedule a test immediately after a meal as well.

    Hyperglycemia

    • Hyperglycemia---extremely high blood sugar---usually indicates diabetes. Moderately high levels may indicate pre-diabetes. Elevated blood sugar can also stem from stress, chronic renal failure, pancreatic cancer, extreme food intake, or drugs such as lithium, estrogens, and antidepressants, says LabTestsOnline.org.

    Hypoglycemia

    • According to LabTestsOnline.org, low glucose levels---hypoglycemia---could be from adrenal insufficiency, extensive liver disease, hypothyroidism or insulin overdose. Excessive use of alcohol, acetaminophen or anabolic steroids can also skew test results.

    Considerations

    • Obstetricians typically recommend women 24 to 28 weeks pregnant have a one-hour glucose-challenge test, to identify gestational diabetes. Left untreated, it can result in high birth weight and/or low glucose levels for the baby.

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