Diagnosing Diabetes

The preferred method for diagnosing diabetes is the fasting plasma glucose test, or FPG. It measures your blood glucose level after you have fasted for 10 to 12 hours.

Normal fasting blood glucose is between 70 and 99 mg/dl for people who do not have diabetes. The standard diagnosis of diabetes is made when two blood tests show your fasting blood glucose level to be 126 mg/dl or greater.

Other diagnosis options include random blood sugar testing (over 200 mg/dl) or an oral glucose tolerance test.