5 Important Tests for Type 2 Diabetes

For centuries, diabetes testing mostly consisted of a physician dipping his pinkie into a urine sample and tasting it to pick up on abnormally high sugar. Thankfully, testing for type 2 diabetes is lot easier now—at least for doctors.

Urine tests can still pick up diabetes. However, sugar levels need to be quite high (and diabetes more advanced) to be detected on a urine test, so this is not the test of choice for type 2 diabetes.

Blood tests
Almost all diabetes tests are now conducted on blood samples, which are collected in a visit to your physician or obstetrician (if you're pregnant).

More about type 2 diabetes

• How Type 2 Diabetes Can Damage Your Body
• One Man's Weight Loss Was a Sign of Diabetes
• 6 Most Common Type 2 Diabetes Symptoms
• Top 5 Risk Factors for Type 2 Diabetes

If you have an abnormal result—meaning blood sugar is too high—on any of these tests, you'll need to have more testing.

Many things can affect blood sugar (such as certain medications, illness, or stress).

A diabetes diagnosis requires more than just one abnormal blood sugar result.