What is Urine Glucose Test?

Glucose is a sugar type that your body requires for energy and is acquired by it by converting the carbohydrates that you consume into glucose.

A urine glucose test, to put it in simple terms, is a test that is conducted to determine if there is a high level of glucose present in your urine. This is essential because a high level of glucose in your body can result in various complications, even fatal.

Mostly, a urine glucose test is conducted to monitor glucose level in diabetic or prediabetic patients. If the symptoms of diabetes are present, such as excessive thirst, frequent bouts of urination, fatigue, and more, the doctor may conduct the test regularly to assess the glucose level in your body via this test. And then prescribe medicine and dosage accordingly.

This test is done via a collection of the urine sample from the patient and its testing in the laboratory thereof.

High blood sugar levels may happen either due to an unhealthy lifestyle or due to some genetic conditions. While there is no way to prevent type 1 diabetes from happening, a timely test can certainly help prevent type 2 diabetes. Further, it is important because if left unmonitored, high blood sugar levels can develop into type 2 diabetes. This can have further complications on heart, kidneys, nerves, and more. A urine glucose test is essential to ensure that does not happen. It is also important and instrumental in monitoring blood sugar levels. This is to prevent an uncontrolled rise in blood sugar resulting in even more serious scenarios.

Let’s find out more about the test, the procedure and complications involved, along with how to interpret the results when you get it.

Why is Urine Glucose Test done?

A urine glucose test is important to assess the glucose level in the body because that helps a doctor assess your condition. Diabetes or high blood sugar levels, if ignored, can turn into serious kidney ailments and even cause nerve issues. This can also turn fatal if it remains undiagnosed and untreated.

A urine glucose test ensures that it is identified on time. It helps alert the patient and doctor about the fact that the blood sugar is abnormally high and may lead to diabetes. It also helps the doctor monitor the condition of an already diabetic patient more effectively.

It is important to conduct this test to rule out or treat high blood sugar levels. Untreated diabetes can lead to some serious complications such as stroke, heart attack, narrowing of the arteries, and more. Most of these conditions can turn fatal. A urine glucose test enables the doctor to determine how to control your blood sugar level if it is high.

When should Urine Glucose Test be done?

A urine glucose test is usually done when a person starts experiencing classic symptoms of high blood sugar or prediabetes, such as:

Blood in urine
Frequent urination
Abdominal pain
Increased thirst and hunger
Blurred vision
Dry mouth
Yeast infection

It is important to conduct a test upon suspecting high blood sugar to diagnose diabetes at its onset. Otherwise, high blood sugar levels can lead to the condition over time, with the body not producing enough insulin, with the cells becoming inefficient to store and use glucose. This test done at regular intervals ensures that a patient does not reach that stage.

These symptoms should alert a person enough to visit a doctor. The doctor, then, upon proper diagnosis and examination, can recommend whether or not a urine glucose test is required.

Prerequisites for Urine Glucose Test

It is imperative to disclose your entire medical and genetic history before conducting the test. It is also important to reveal any kind of drug history, medically or otherwise. Any allergic conditions, if they are specifically related to any kind of medicine, should also be revealed.

These things, coupled with full disclosure of your symptoms, help a doctor assess your condition more accurately. It also helps see whether you need a urine glucose test or not. It further helps the doctor figure out whether or not you need any form of medication and the dosage thereof.

To prepare you for a urine glucose test, the doctor may also ask you to not take a specific medicine or drug before you come for the test.

Procedure for Urine Glucose Test

A urine glucose test is conducted in a fairly simple manner at a laboratory or doctor’s own clinic. The patient is usually provided with a clean and sterilised cup or container and is asked to collect the urine sample in it.

The first step would be to clean your genital area. Thereafter, let a small stream of urine flow into the toilet before you place the cup and collect the mid-urine stream. Half a cup is usually a sufficient sample to conduct the test. Make sure you do not touch and contaminate it in any manner and carefully replace the lid. You can submit the sample for inspection and testing post this.

Another way of testing glucose in urine is by using a dipstick. The healthcare person may provide you with one. A dipstick is made of a colour-sensitive pad. Once urine drops are put on it, the colour changes to indicate whether you have high or low levels of glucose in urine.

Understanding Urine Glucose Test Results

A glucose level of 0 to 0.8 millimoles per litre of urine is considered normal. Anything higher than that indicates a health issue, mostly, diabetes. Once the level of glucose has been determined, a blood test is conducted to confirm the diagnosis.

However, it is not necessary that a higher level of glucose would indicate diabetes. Many pregnant women also tend to have higher levels of sugar in their urine. They should be screened for gestational diabetes in that case.

A rare issue that can emerge due to higher levels of glucose in the urine is renal glycosuria, in which kidneys release glucose into the urine. This is a unique condition wherein the blood glucose levels can remain normal, but urine glucose levels are high.

An abnormal level of glucose in the urine can often push the doctors to conduct further tests to determine the exact issues.

Urine Glucose Test: Why and How is it Done?