What should blood sugar levels be for type 2 diabetes

There are several ways to diagnose diabetes. Each way usually needs to be repeated on a second day to diagnose diabetes.

Table of Contents Show

Fasting Plasma Glucose (FPG)
Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT)
Random (also called Casual) Plasma Glucose Test
What is Prediabetes?
Preventing Type 2 Diabetes

Testing should be carried out in a health care setting (such as your doctor’s office or a lab). If your doctor determines that your blood glucose (blood sugar) level is very high, or if you have classic symptoms of high blood glucose in addition to one positive test, your doctor may not require a second test to diagnose diabetes.

A1C

The A1C test measures your average blood glucose for the past two to three months. The advantages of being diagnosed this way are that you don't have to fast or drink anything.

Diabetes is diagnosed at an A1C of greater than or equal to 6.5%

Result	A1C
Normal	less than 5.7%
Prediabetes	5.7% to 6.4%
Diabetes	6.5% or higher

Fasting Plasma Glucose (FPG)

This test checks your fasting blood glucose levels. Fasting means after not having anything to eat or drink (except water) for at least 8 hours before the test. This test is usually done first thing in the morning, before breakfast.

Diabetes is diagnosed at fasting blood glucose of greater than or equal to 126 mg/dl

Result	Fasting Plasma Glucose (FPG)
Normal	less than 100 mg/dl
Prediabetes	100 mg/dl to 125 mg/dl
Diabetes	126 mg/dl or higher

Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT)

The OGTT is a two-hour test that checks your blood glucose levels before and two hours after you drink a special sweet drink. It tells the doctor how your body processes sugar.

Diabetes is diagnosed at two-hour blood glucose of greater than or equal to 200 mg/dl

Result	Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT)
Normal	less than 140 mg/dl
Prediabetes	140 to 199 mg/dl
Diabetes	200 mg/dl or higher

Random (also called Casual) Plasma Glucose Test

This test is a blood check at any time of the day when you have severe diabetes symptoms.

Diabetes is diagnosed at blood glucose of greater than or equal to 200 mg/dl

What is Prediabetes?

Before people develop type 2 diabetes, they almost always have prediabetes—blood glucose levels that are higher than normal but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes.

Doctors sometimes refer to prediabetes as impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) or impaired fasting glucose (IFG), depending on what test was used when it was detected. This condition puts you at a higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Symptoms

There are no clear symptoms of prediabetes, so you may have it and not know it.

Some people with prediabetes may have some of the symptoms of diabetes or even problems from diabetes already. You usually find out that you have prediabetes when being tested for diabetes.

If you have prediabetes, you should be checked for type 2 diabetes every one to two years.

Results indicating prediabetes are:

An A1C of 5.7–6.4%
Fasting blood glucose of 100–125 mg/dl
An OGTT two-hour blood glucose of 140–199 mg/dl

Preventing Type 2 Diabetes

You will not develop type 2 diabetes automatically if you have prediabetes. For some people with prediabetes, early treatment can actually return blood glucose levels to the normal range.

Research shows that you can lower your risk for type 2 diabetes by 58% by:

Losing 7% of your body weight (or 15 pounds if you weigh 200 pounds)
Exercising moderately (such as brisk walking) 30 minutes a day, five days a week

Don't worry if you can't get to your ideal body weight. Losing even 10 to 15 pounds can make a huge difference.

Normally, your pancreas releases insulin when your blood sugar, or “blood glucose,” gets high -- after a meal, for example. That signals your body to absorb glucose until levels get back to normal.

But if you have diabetes, your body doesn’t make insulin (type 1 diabetes) or doesn’t respond to it normally (type 2 diabetes). That can leave your blood sugar too high for too long. Over time, that can damage nerves and blood vessels and lead to heart disease and other problems.

If you have diabetes, your doctor may ask you to keep track of your blood sugar by testing it at home with a special device called a blood glucose monitor or home blood sugar meter. It takes a small sample of blood, usually from the tip of your finger, and measures the amount of glucose in it.

Follow your doctor’s instructions about the best way to use your device.

Your doctor will tell you when and how to test your blood sugar. Each time you do it, log it in a notebook or online tool or in an app. The time of day, recent activity, your last meal, and other things can all affect whether a reading will be of concern to your doctor. So try to log relevant information like:

What medication and dosage you took
What you ate, when you ate, or whether you were fasting
How much, how intense, and what kind of exercise you were doing, if any

That will help you and your doctor see how your treatment is working.

Managing type 1 and type 2 diabetes well can delay or prevent complications that affect your eyes, kidneys, and nerves. Diabetes doubles your risk for heart disease and stroke, too. Fortunately, controlling your blood sugar will also make these problems less likely.

Tight blood sugar control, however, means a greater chance of low blood sugar levels, so your doctor may suggest higher targets.