Impaired Gluces Tolerance - What Is It?

Find out what impaired glucose tolerance is and how it can affect you or a loved one with diabetes...

The term "Impaired Glucose Tolerance" refers to a person whose blood sugar is higher than normal, but lower than a person who has diabetes.  Impaired glucose tolerance is not diabetes, but a person who has this condition is more likely to become diabetic.  Impaired glucose tolerance is also called: Borderline Diabetes, a "touch" of sugar, latent diabetes, chemical diabetes and prediabetes.

The only way to know if you have impaired glucose tolerance is to have tests done by a doctor.  These tests include a fasting blood glucose test, an oral glucose tolerance test and a postprandial blood glucose test.

A Fasting Blood Glucose test is taken in the morning after the person hasn't eaten for 8-12 prior to the test.  People with a normal blood glucose level usually have a fasting blood glucose of 115 or lower.  People with a fasting blood glucose level of 140 or higher for two tests has diabetes.

An Oral Glucose Tolerance Test is sometimes given to people to find out if they have diabetes.  During this test the blood glucose is measured about five times during a 3-4 hour period.  The person is told not to eat for 8-12 hours before the test and the blood is measured.   The person then drinks a liquid with approximately 75 grams of glucose in it (approximately 100 grams for pregnant women).  The blood glucose is then measured after 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours and 3 hours.  If a person has diabetes the blood sugar will go up and stay high (over 200 when tested)

A Postprandial Blood Glucose tests the blood glucose after a meal (usually two hours after).  If a person does not have diabetes this reading should be less than 200.    People with postprandial blood glucose levels between 140 and 200 have impaired glucose tolerance.

Impaired glucose tolerance should not be considered a "light" condition or something that should be ignored.  It needs to be treated and regular doctor visits should be scheduled so the blood sugar can be measured.  It also might be a good idea for the person to get a blood glucose testing meter to do home testing.  Weight loss might help the condition, as well as eating in a healthy way and exercising.