Diabetes Screening Guidelines | When to Screen for Diabetes

Following the ADA’s diabetes screening guidelines can be helpful in determining whether or not you are at risk.

The possibility of being diagnosed with diabetes can be scary and stressful, especially if you were not even aware of your chances of developing the disease. Whether it is genetics, your current weight or your cardiovascular health, these diabetes screening guidelines can help you determine if it’s time to get tested.

Many of us don’t have a real clue of when to screen for diabetes or get tested. In fact, we may not even be aware of a genetic predisposition in our bloodline, or how our ethnicity can play a role in our chances of suffering from this illness.

Thankfully, there are many tests available as indicated by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) on its 2018 diabetes screening guidelines. These provide the parameters to follow whenever a test should be administered to identify the risk of developing the disease.

Type 2 diabetes screening tests, for example, are now recommended to include children and adolescents that are younger than 18 years of age, but that may be considered overweight or obese.

This is because, one of the main risk factors for suffering from diabetes is being overweight and having a high concentration of fat in our bodies, which can happen in children and adults alike.

As part of these updated diabetes screening guidelines, the ADA also recommends using technology-based methods for testing, managing and understanding the disease. This should supplement the advice from medical experts and the support system created for patients.

Knowing when to screen for diabetes is also important because early detection and rapid implantation of treatment can significantly reduce the chances of developing Type 2 diabetes and its complications.

Administration of type 2 diabetes screening tests should also be considered in patients that have a history of suffering from hypertension, blood pressure irregularities or cardiovascular complications, despite their sex, but playing close attention to those patients that are over 40 years of age.

These diabetes screening guidelines play close attention to whether or not a patient may be taking certain medications, if they’ve suffered from gestational diabetes or polycystic ovary syndrome (in the case of women) or if they have a medical history of suffering from high cholesterol despite maintaining a healthy weight.

The idea of the guidelines is to set up a program of testing based on certain characteristics that are considered diabetes risk factors, and that are fairly common in today’s society.

Medical experts recommend it is important to do early screening in patients that have any of the characteristics named above, as well as those that have had direct relatives diagnosed with the disease (parents and siblings), or pertain to certain racial groups (African Americans, American Indians or Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, Hispanics or Latinos, or Native Hawaiians or Pacific Islanders) as these are also at risk.

Testing for diabetes is not uncommon, and it is actually considered a standard practice whenever someone is scheduled to get a complete physical exam – which, on average – happens every year.

Whether or not someone shows the classic signs of symptoms of diabetes, testing can be done trough the classic A1C exam. This exam should be repeated on a subsequent day to confirm a diagnosis when the results turn out to be positive.

Repeat testing is not uncommon, and should not be a sign of alarm for patients that undergo the process. In many cases, Doctors just want to ensure that the results are not affected by a recent meal, or a recent strenuous physical activity, which naturally changes the way glucose behaves in our bodies.

Finally, there is also the recommendation of relying on special tests – such as the C Peptide, Genetic Testing, Islet Cell Autoantibody – amongst others, whenever deemed necessary by the expert medical personnel.

These diabetes screening guidelines help by supporting the practice of early detection and implementation of a diabetes management plan whenever a patient gets diagnosed, or knowing whether or not you are prone to the disease and helping you develop a care plan that may help you avoid it completely.