List of Diabetes Test & Blood Glucose Level Normal Values, Procedure, Cost & More

Medically Reviewed By: Dr. Hardik Bambhania, M.B.B.S, Consultant Diabetologist April 18, 2022

Last updated on September 30th, 2022

checking blood sugar level
checking blood sugar level with glucometer

Blood sugar or glucose is an important constituent of blood that gives energy to your body. When the amount of blood sugar goes beyond a normal limit, a person becomes diabetic. This overall degrades the person’s health over the period of time. Diabetes basically increases the risk of heart stroke, kidney failure, eye diseases, hearing impairments and many other health complications. Therefore, it is important to track your blood sugar level by getting the diabetes blood test done. Read this blog to know about list of blood sugar test with average cost in India.

Detect Different Types of Diabetes

It normally takes time for the symptoms of diabetes to appear. If your diabetes is not diagnosed at the early stage, it can leads to several health complications. Therefore, many doctors, health care practitioners and those who are health conscious prefer to get the sugar test done regularly. This not only helps them to diagnose their diabetes and its type but also helps in diabetes management.

There are mainly three types of diabetes:

  • Type-2 diabetes
  • Type-1 diabetes
  • Gestational diabetes

For diagnosing each type of diabetes, there are different types of tests done. However, fasting plasma glucose and random blood glucose test are common type of diabetes test. Also, anyone who wants to know their blood sugar levels can go for the diabetes test. However, your risk for diabetes increases if you are overweight, high blood pressure, older than 45 years or have a family history of diabetes.

Also Read: How to Lower Your Blood Sugar?

Normal Range of Glucose level

A healthy person, who does not have diabetes, has a normal fasting glucose range of 72-99 mg/dL while their post glucose range can be upto 140 mg/dL after 2 hours of meal.

People with diabetes either type-1or type-2, have a normal range of blood sugar level upto 100 mg/dL while fasting. However, it can be upto 180 mg/dL after 2 hours of meal.

The normal range of urine glucose level is upto 14 mg/dL. If you are going for the urine test for diabetes and your urine glucose level is higher then you are a diabetic.

Blood Glucose Range
Condition Fasting Values Ref Range Post Meal Values Ref Range
Non-Diabetic 72-99 mg/dl Up to 140 mg/dL
Type 1 Diabetic Up to 100 mg/dL Up to 180 mg/ dL
Type 2 Diabetic Up to 100 mg/dL Up to 180 mg/ dl
Urine Glucose  Up to 14 mg/dL

Tests for Diabetes Type-2

In a person with diabetes type-2, the body produces enough insulin but is not able to use it efficiently. There are a number of symptoms that indicates that a person is diabetic.

Tests that are done for diagnosing or tracking diabetes type-2 include:

  • Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) test: If you are going for an FPG test, you are supposed to give the blood sample an empty stomach or after fasting. Blood is taken from the vein in the arm or your fingertip to calculate your blood sugar amount. If your blood sugar level is 99mg/dL or lowers then you have FBS normal range. People with prediabetes have a normal value of 100 to 125 mg/dL. Those who have sugar levels higher than 126mg/dL have diabetes.
Fasting Plasma Blood Glucose
Result Ref Range
Normal Less than 100 mg/dL
Prediabetes 100 to 125 mg/dL
Diabetes 126 mg/dL or higher
  • Random Plasma Glucose (RPG) test: In a random blood sugar test, you are not required to fast. You can give blood even after the meals. A doctor can prescribe you this type of diabetes test when you have unintended weight loss, partial loss of vision, frequent urination, or dehydration. If your random sugar range is 200mg/dL or higher then you have diabetes.
Random Plasma Glucose Test
Plasma glucose test Normal Diabetes
Random Below 200 mg/dl 200 mg/dl or more
  • Hemoglobin A1c test: Average sugar test levels are determined in this test. The average blood glucose level is measured over the past three months. People with diabetes get this test done so that they can track their blood sugar levels. When the Hemoglobin A1c level is below 5.7% then you have a normal diabetes level. You have prediabetes if your HbA1c level is between 5.7 and 6.4% while the higher values show you are diabetic.
HbA1c and Blood Sugar 
A1c % Avg. Blood Sugar mg/ dL
4 68
5 97
6 126
7 152
8 183
9 212
10 240
11 269
12 298
13 326
14 355

 

Tests for Diabetes Type-1 With Average Cost in India

It is a bit difficult to diagnose diabetes type-1. Generally, a lot of people do not see any symptoms of diabetes type-1 other than feeling fatigue. Hence, your doctor can ask you to get a diabetes test done. Also, if there is a history of diabetes in your family then also you can be asked for a diabetes test.

Also read: Post prandial blood sugar chart

C-Peptide Test
C-Peptide Test

Some of the common tests for diabetes type-1  with average cost are:

  • Urine test: Doctors may ask you to take the Urine sugar test procedure if they suspect that you may have type-1 diabetes. When your body stops making insulin, ketone bodies are produced when fat tissue is used for energy needs. Therefore, to diagnose diabetes, the level of ketone body is check-in a urine sample. A specialized dipstick is dipped into a sample of urine to know the glucose level.
  • C-peptide: C-peptide is produced by the pancreas. If a person suffers from diabetes, then the production of C-peptide also gets lowered along with the production of insulin. Like other tests for diabetes, in this test also a blood sample is taken via syringe. The normal range of C-peptide is between 0.5 and 2.0 nanograms per milliliter. These values can fluctuate too high or low when your body produces high or low insulin respectively.
  • Insulin autoantibodies: This type of test helps in detecting antibodies that target insulin produced in your body. The immune system of people with diabetes type1 targets and destroys insulin.

Also Read: Can Your Reverse Type 2 Diabetes?

Apart from these, the Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) test and Random Plasma Glucose (RPG) test are also done to diagnose type-1 diabetes. Hemoglobin A1c may not be efficient in giving accurate results in diabetes type-1.

Tests Conducted to Check Diabetes in Patients
Diagnostic Tests Checks Condition Avg. Cost of Test of Sugar Test
Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) test 72-99 mg/dl Up to 140 mg/dL
Random Plasma Glucose (RPG) test Up to 100 mg/dL Up to 180 mg/ dL
Hemoglobin A1c test  Up to 100 mg/dL Up to 180 mg/ dl
Urine Sugar Fasting  Up to 14 mg/dL Up to 180 mg/ dl
C-peptide Up to 14 mg/dL Up to 180 mg/ dl
Insulin autoantibodies Up to 14 mg/dL Up to 180 mg/ dl

 

Tests for Gestational diabetes

During pregnancy, some women are diagnosed with gestational diabetes. It is a condition that happens when your body is not able to make the efficient use of insulin that it needs for supporting your pregnancy. It is mainly caused due to hormonal changes in your body during pregnancy. Gestational diabetes can affect the growth of the baby in the womb and may lead to breathing issues, obesity, and other health problems from birth.

Pregnant Women BGL

Following are the types of sugar tests that are done for screening for gestational diabetes:

  • Initial glucose challenge: In this type of diabetes screening, you are allowed to drink a syrupy glucose solution. After one hour, your blood sugar level test is done. If your blood sugar level is below 140mg/dL then you have a normal range of blood sugar. Otherwise, your doctor will start medications for treating gestational diabetes.
  • Follow-up glucose tolerance testing: It is another kind of test in which you will be asked to fast overnight then your fasting blood sugar level is measured. After fasting sugar is tested, you will have to drink a solution that has a higher concentration of sugar. In this way, your blood sugar test is done every hour over a period of three hours. You will likely have gestational diabetes if any of the two readings are higher than the normal set values.

Also Read: Indian Diet For Diabetic Patients

Taking the Blood Glucose Test Done at Home

Getting the blood test done is convenient. There are a variety of home kits available with which a person can do random plasma glucose tests. The diabetes test kit includes a glucometer and glucose meter strip. Instructions will be provided on the kit itself. Mainly, it includes pricking your fingertip to get the blood out. This blood is then put on the glucose meter strip which is then inserted into the glucometer. Within 20-30 seconds, you get your results.

Continuous glucose monitoring systems are also there which help in tracking your blood glucose values. This type of system includes a glucose sensor that is inserted under your skin and a wearable device that shows you the results. Such systems alert you when your blood sugar levels go high or low.

Also Read: Benefits of Ber/Jujube

Treatments for Type-2, Type-1, and Gestational Diabetes

You need to discuss with your doctor first about the increase in your blood sugar level. According to the values of your glucose levels, your treatment will be decided. Generally, type-1 diabetes is treated with temporary Insulin shots while type-2 and gestational diabetes can be managed by keeping a check on your blood glucose level.

Along with these, you need to adopt a healthy lifestyle to keep your diabetes in control. Avoid bad habits like drinking alcohol and smoking, eat healthy meals, exercise regularly, and keep your weight under control to manage your diabetes. Stress is another common cause that can trigger diabetes after deregulating your hormones. Therefore, stress management is another effective way to keep your diabetes under control.

FAQ’s:

Is diabetes curable?

You can manage your diabetes with Insulin, medications and lifestyle change. However, till now there is no cure for diabetes type-2 and diabetes type-1. Whereas, gestational diabetes gets treated naturally when yours hormonal balance is maintained.

What sample is required for diagnosing diabetes?

In most of the tests for diabetes, blood sample is taken. Mainly, plasma of your blood is considered to diagnose diabetes. In urine test for diabetes, sample of urine is taken.

Where can I get the blood test for diabetes done?

One can easily find hundreds of pathologies in nearby locations where you can get the diabetes test done. There are some pathology labs which are providing online facilities as well. You just have to make a booking for sample collection. Their representative will come to your place for collecting the sample. You can easily view your online sugar test report.

What is the cost of random blood sugar test?

The cost of RBS Test varies from one pathological lab to another. It also varies from city to city.  However, the cost is very nominal.

What are the side effects of diabetes blood test?

Diabetes blood test is known to have low risk and no side effects. However, some people may experience soreness or swelling at the site from where blood is extracted.

Reference:

  1. https://www.healthline.com/health/blood-sugar-tests#procedure
  2. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325729#type-1
  3. https://www.portea.com/labs/diagnostic-tests/random-blood-sugar-rbs-test-151/#section_0
  4. https://www.endocrineweb.com/conditions/type-1-diabetes/type-1-diabetes
  5. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20371451
Last Updated on by Dr. Damanjit Duggal 

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