Could diabetes be detected through a urine sample?

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cridler	Yes, diabetes can be detected through the urine sample. In fact in the far past the urine was tasted if if sweet diabetes (sounds disgusting but urine is sterile). It is a poor control tool as it is back looking 12 hr or so so of no use for insulin dosages that can be done with blood testing that is instant. I don't even know if urine testing strips are even available today, I know they were 30 years ago. This is another example of how technology is making medical treatment and chronic disease management more effective though more expensive.

MamaSmurf	Yes, and then they would do blood work, because it's more accurate and reliable

da d	Absolutely. That is the way that they used to do the screening testing. Blood is better in a number of ways.

Danny !~	If you look at the definition of diabetes, u'll know the sample u need is blood, not urine. (i.e. The diagnosis of diabetes is made through Fasting plasma glucose level, or Oral glucose tolerance test, not anything else i.e. with this definition urine is not helpful in diagnosing diabetes.) It's however true that diabetic subjects may have high urine glucose level if the condition is not well controlled. Kidney is able to fully reabsorb all the filtered load of glucose if blood glucose is lower than the threshold of around 10mmol/L. Note this threshold is subject to individual variation. :p

Voice	Yes. Actually, that's the old way of testing. Dr's used to test the urine for amounts of sugar. This usually indicated diabetes. Now, Dr's use a blood test instead.

bronte heights	It is not only the sugar in the urine but excess protein that may indicate diabetes. This , or a routine blood test are often the first indications of the disease.

KITTYKAT714	YES

Ellen	An increase in sugar can be measured in your urine. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that your blood sugar is high enough to be considered diabetes. Blood tests are the best way to determine this disease.

MvL	Yes, but only chronically untreated diabetes type 2 would be detectable that way. Type 1 diabetes would always be detectable through urine. The best and most accurate way to detect diabetes is through blood testing. Two common tests are fasting blood glucose levels, and the glycated hemoglobin (A1c, Hb1c , HbA1c, or HgA1c) test (this measures how often and for how long blood sugars are elevated. More accurate, but more expensive, tests that may not be covered by insurance include a glucose tolerance test (they test your blood sugar, then give you a glucose challenge (a sugar pill), then test your glucose after an hour or so, and then test it an hour or so after that. This shows how quickly your body reacts to a glucose challenge and normalizes the blood sugar levels. Another suggested, perhaps even more accurate, test, is a combined glucose-insulin challenge, where, under doctor supervision, a glucose challenge is administered, and then insulin. Blood glucose levels are administered and this test best determines how resistant to insulin your body is. Insulin resistance is the hallmark and cause of diabetes type 2. Which in many cases can go untreated for years until serious complications from chronic and constantly elevated blood sugar levels destroying your body's tissues are noticed.

Sunday's Best	Yes.

•BK•	Yes, but the test is hardly used any more. The test required the person to urinate on a stick like contraption. It can give amount of glucose in urine but it is not as accurate as the blood finger stick checks. It also measures amount of ketones in the urine. A higher than normal amount would indicate a possibility of having Diabetes. Ketones are byproducts of rapid or excessive fatty acid breakdown. In diabetes because sugar carbs are not being used as fuel the body would use an excess amount of fat and muscles, it starts feeding on itself. Lets say you go an a Carbohydrate free diet your ketones in the urine would increase. http://www.americandiabetes.com/ketones.htm