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Oral Glucose Tolerance Test at Home



 Submitted by Nic on March 25, 2011
An oral glucose tolerance test is a test used to establish the body’s capability to manage glucose in the blood. The body of a normal, healthy individual will absorb the glucose present in the blood to produce energy and heat, both of which are used by the body. An individual who has a problem like diabetes is likely to be in a situation where the body does not absorb sufficient amount of glucose from the blood, leaving the individual in a situation where he or she suffers from high blood sugar. The oral glucose tolerance test is usually conducted in a clinic to ensure that the norms of the analysis are properly followed. However, one can conduct an oral glucose tolerance test at home. Certain precautions are needed to conduct an oral glucose tolerance test at home. The oral glucose tolerance test at home follows the same procedure as a standard oral glucose tolerance test. Read more about GTT test.

The patient should fast for 8 hours before the test to ensure that the blood sugar level is fairly low. Patients need to have a blood sugar monitor with them to perform an oral glucose tolerance test at home. At the initial stage, an important precaution needs to be taken. The patient should ensure that he or she has a normal or low blood sugar level at the start of this test. If the blood sugar reading is already high, then the patient will suffer from serious consequences if he or she consumes more glucose at this stage.

The next stage of an oral glucose tolerance test at home involves the consumption of a glucose based drink. The subject should try and consume a drink with between 75 and 100 grams of glucose in it. One hour after this, the blood sugar level should be checked again. If this level is abnormal, then the blood should be checked after 3 hours without any energy exertion or any further consumption of food or liquid. If the test fails after 3 hours as well then the oral glucose tolerance test interpretation is that the patient is suffering from some form of glucose problem. This problem is most likely diabetes, but may be some other condition as well. At the clinic as well as in some home test kits the oral glucose test graph provided helps you make notes of the results achieved and thus helps in easier interpretation of this test. An individual who arrives at this oral glucose tolerance test interpretation should visit a doctor immediately for a consultation on what to do with the condition in terms of treatment and management.
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