What is an acceptable range for blood glucose levels? Some people say the lower end is 70 and some others say the lower end is 130.

Question

Hello doctor,

I have gotten different answers from various different doctors on this question. Maybe, you can give me a straight answer. What is the acceptable range for blood glucose levels? Some people say the lower end is 70 and some others say the lower end is 130. Please explain.

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

Many types of blood sugar testings are there, and the values for that are different. But worldwide, the most commonly used tests for the detection of diabetes are Fasting Blood Sugar and Post Prandial Blood Sugar.

Fasting blood sugar test is done by taking the blood sample from a patient after a period of fasting. Usually, patients are asked to report for the test in the morning, before breakfast (after about 8 hours of fasting). The normal range of fasting blood sugar is 70 to 100 mg/dL. Anything between 100 to125 mg/dL is considered as Impaired Fasting Glucose (IFG) or pre-diabetes. And anything more than 125 mg/dL is considered as diabetes.

Post-prandial blood sugar test is done by taking the blood sample from a patient after a meal. Usually, the test is done after 2 hours after a meal. The normal range of post meals blood sugar should be less than 180 mg/dL. Anything between 180 to 200 mg/dL is considered Impaired Glucose tolerance or pre-diabetic state. And anything more than 200 mg/dL is considered as diabetes.

Hope this answers your query.