In June of 1997 the American Diabetes Association (ADA) announced new recommendations for the diagnosis of diabetes.
The international ADA Committee recommended increased diabetes testing to identify people with the disease.
The ADA hopes physicians will identify patients who have diabetes earlier, when the chances for preventing
long-term complications through good diabetes management are greatest.
The ADA also recommends that all individuals age 45 and above be tested for diabetes, and if the test
is normal, they should be re-tested every three years. Testing should be conducted at earlier ages and
carried out more frequently in individuals who meet any of the following criteria: obese; have a first
degree relative with diabetes; are members of a high-risk ethnic population (African-American, Hispanic,
Native American, Asian); have delivered a baby weighing more than 9 pounds; have had gestational diabetes;
are hypertensive; have HDL cholesterol levels equal to or less than 35 mg/dl or triglyceride levels equal
to or greater than 250 mg/dl or who, on previous testing, had impaired glucose tolerance or impaired
fasting glucose.
The ADA's recommendations for diagnosing diabetes indicate patients meeting one or more of the following
criteria have a form of diabetes. If any of these test results occur, testing should be repeated on a
different day to confirm the diagnosis.
- Plasma glucose is above 126 mg/dl
- Diabetes symptoms exist and casual plasma glucose is equal to or above 200 mg/dl
- Plasma glucose is equal to or above 200 mg/dl during an oral glucose tolerance test
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