If you have type 1 diabetes, make sure you discuss these problems with your health care practitioner and diabetes educator. Learn the warning signs of these conditions and what to do if these problems should occur. Type 2 diabetes often develops slowly. Top Diagnosis of Diabetes Doctors diagnose diabetes by measuring glucose in the blood. Screening tests are done on individuals who have no symptoms of diabetes and persons at risk for developing diabetes.
Screening tests are inexpensive and easy to do.
They require a drop of blood from the fingertip and take only a minute or two to complete. Diagnostic tests are used to confirm a diagnosis suspected from a patient's symptoms. Doctors order samples of blood drawn from a vein and sent to a laboratory for analysis. Types of tests used to diagnose diabetes include fasting plasma glucose, random plasma glucose and oral glucose tolerance tests. The preferred way to diagnose diabetes is the fasting plasma glucose test.