Brief Answer: About Diabetes and Prediabetes Detailed Answer: Hi XXXX I am dr saumya Mittal, MD I am a daibetician And I am going to try to help you with your query. The fact about Prediabetes and Diabetes remains that they are practically the spectrum of the same disease process. So one needs not have too many tests done. I will however tell you how you may proceed. It is good to see that you are aware enough to test the sugars for yourself and your son. Yes diabetes has a familial prevalance. But the fact also remains that the genetic diabetes may develop late also. I will suggest you test FBS, PPBS (2 hours after breakfast) at the same meal. Do not change the meals. That is the best way to test FBS and PPBS. Besides you can test HbA1C. This test tells the sugar control of the last three months. So if the levels rise beyond 6, we know that something is going wrong. In this situation, if the HbA1c is higher and the sugars are relatively normal, one may think of prediabetes. An alternative test is OGTT, also known as oral glucose tolerance test, the subject checks fasting sugar,then consumes 75 gm glucose. the sugars are repeated at 1, 2 and sometimes 4 hours. if all the sugars are normal, one need not worry. If the first sugar is high, one can definitely make out whether the person has prediabetes(Sugars 100-126) or diabetes (sugars>126). if the first sugar is normal, and the 1st is raised, prediabetes may be considered (however this may be unreliable). If the second sugar is high, prediabetes or diabetes may be considered (depending on levels). I hope this answers your query. Personally I prefer the first method. I move to OGTT only if everything else fails and I am still suspecting diabetes. I hope that helps. Any further queries are welcome Best of luck Dr Saumya Mittal

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