Does the test to support the diagnosis of gestational diabetes require fasting?

This is an automatically translated article.

The test to help diagnose gestational diabetes is one of the recommended tests for every woman during pregnancy because of potentially dangerous complications for mother and baby.
The article was professionally consulted by MSc Do Thi Hoang Ha - Doctor of Biochemistry, Laboratory Department - Vinmec Hai Phong International General Hospital. The doctor has 11 years of experience working in the field of clinical biochemistry.

1. Symptoms of gestational diabetes

Gestational diabetes is diabetes diagnosed during the second or third trimester of pregnancy and there is no prior evidence of type 1 or type 2 diabetes. If a pregnant woman in the first 3 months of pregnancy is found to have hyperglycemia, she will be diagnosed with newly discovered, undiagnosed diabetes using the same diagnostic criteria as in a non-pregnant woman.
During the 24-28 week of pregnancy, due to the placenta's hormones disrupting insulin production as well as the amount of insulin needed for the mother's body to use increases, insulin deficiency leads to unregulated blood sugar causes gestational diabetes.
Although gestational diabetes only appears during pregnancy and the vast majority of pregnant women will go away on their own after giving birth, the disease is still extremely dangerous for both mother and fetus. Diabetes during pregnancy is closely associated with an increased risk of obstetric complications such as pre-eclampsia 4 times higher than in the general population, fetal malformations, stillbirth, large for gestational age and other complications. Obstetric problems around the time of delivery (hemorrhage, causing difficulty in delivery because the fetal shoulder is too large, causing premature birth, stillbirth, rupture of membranes and polyhydramnios).
The vast majority of cases of gestational diabetes usually have no symptoms or manifestations, if present, the symptoms of gestational diabetes include:
Frequent and frequent urination: Blood sugar is too high Can't metabolize it all, so the kidneys have to work at full capacity to excrete it out

Frequent thirst: When glucose and blood sugar are high in the body, it tends to draw water from the tissues and causes a woman to become dehydrated with frequent urination, so she has to drink more water to replenish. water for the body. Vaginal infection: Vaginal area is prone to fungal infections and difficult to clean and clean. Fatigue, discomfort, weight loss, blurred vision and always feeling hungry despite having added a lot of energy.

2. Subjects prone to gestational diabetes

Not all pregnant women will have gestational diabetes, however, pregnant women in the following groups have a high risk of diabetes during pregnancy:
Families with close relatives with diabetes Pregnant women being obese, overweight Pregnant women aged 35 and over are at high risk of gestational diabetes Pregnant women with a history of gestational diabetes in previous pregnancies Pregnant women who have given birth to a baby larger than 4kg Women with polycystic ovaries Women with a history of unexplained stillbirth.

3. Why get tested for gestational diabetes?

Although gestational diabetes has some symptoms to recognize, not all pregnant women realize it and some symptoms are not obvious, making it difficult to detect the disease. Therefore, blood sugar testing as well as glucose tolerance assessment is the only way to determine whether a pregnant woman has diabetes or not.
There are two ways to test for gestational diabetes: a one-step test and a two-step test:
One-step strategy: Using an oral glucose tolerance test. This method pregnant women only need to go to a medical facility to do a glucose test within 2 hours by using an amount of glucose equivalent to 75g of glucose, dissolved in 250-300 ml of water, drink in 5 minutes; In the previous 3 days, the patient ate a diet with about 150-200 grams of carbohydrates per day, took blood at the time before drinking sugar, 1 hour after drinking sugar and 2 hours after drinking sugar to test Glucose and the doctor will diagnose diabetes. diabetes if one of the three glucose readings exceeds the threshold. Two-step strategy: Includes an initial fasting glucose test to screen women at risk for diabetes, if results are in the range of impaired fasting tolerance or threshold If you are diagnosed with diabetes, you will move on to the second step, which is the glucose tolerance test above, to have an accurate diagnosis of gestational diabetes.

4. Does the gestational diabetes test require fasting?

4.1 For glucose tolerance test and fasting blood sugar test For glucose tolerance test and fasting blood sugar test a pregnant woman must fast for at least 8 hours, it is generally recommended not to take any large amounts of food. any carbohydrates for 8-12 hours before the test. If a pregnant woman eats before taking a diabetes test, nutrients will be converted into glucose for the intestinal wall to absorb and convert into energy to feed the body, when blood sugar is high, the test will not give results. exact results.

4.2 For Random Glucose Testing However, for random glucose testing, the patient does not need to fast before the test. Blood will be taken from the pregnant woman's arm and depending on the glucose level, the pregnant woman will do additional blood sugar tests or glucose tolerance tests to have a final diagnosis of gestational diabetes. In addition, before taking a test for gestational diabetes, pregnant women should limit the use of stimulants such as coffee, tea, and tobacco for the most accurate test results.
Currently, Vinmec International General Hospital offers diabetes screening package - dyslipidemia for customers with signs of diabetes, type 2 diabetes for the purpose of diagnosis and screening. pathology based on quantitative blood tests, applying oral glucose tolerance test (for customers with suspicious fasting blood sugar results). ...... From there the doctor will have the results Discuss and give advice on disease prevention as well as appropriate and scientific treatment for patients.

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