Frequently Asked Questions

What is IGT?

Impaired Glucose Tolerance is a disorder in which your body cannot properly metabolize glucose. It's a state between normal and diabetes.

How is IGT related to diabetes?

For a long time, IGT was called "borderline diabetes." The problem with this name is that many patients would not treat themselves properly, and then they would develop type 2 diabetes. IGT is now supposed to be called either its name or "prediabetes".
Without the proper care, IGT can progress into type 2 diabetes.

How is IGT diagnosed?

The standard for diagnosing IGT seems to be the Oral Glucose Tolerance Test. For the OGTT you need to eat over 200 grams of carbohydrates per day for the three days before your test is scheduled. You fast (no food, no smoking, no beverages aside from water) for 12 hours prior to the test. The medical assistants or lab technicians draw a fasting blood sample from you. Then you drink a beverage containing 75 grams of glucose (GluCola--it tastes like flat Pepsi). Every half hour for as long as your test is scheduled, they draw more blood from you so they can test your glucose level. At the two hour mark, if your blood glucose level is greater than or equal to 140 and less than 200, your diagnosis is IGT.
Some doctors apparently do not think that the OGTT is a reliable way to diagnose IGT; I'm looking into reasons for that now. In this case, your doctor will most likely ask you to check your blood sugar for a period of time and report your results back. Another possibility is that the lab at the clinic or doctors' office will have you eat a snack and then re-test your blood after 2 hours.
The reason for the carbo loading the 3 days before the test is because if you do not consume enough carbohydrates in the days before the test, your test results may be artifically high. Some doctors' offices do not tell their patients about the necessary carbohydrate intake.

They only did a fasting blood test and told me I have IGT. Do I really?

No, but you might have Impaired Fasting Glucose. IFG is diagnosed when a fasting glucose test measures above 109 and less than 126.

Is IGT a permanent condition?

As much as I would like it to be otherwise, IGT is a permanent condition. However, it is much like type 2 diabetes in that, given proper lifestyle changes, it can be controlled in such a way that your blood sugar levels are always normal.
This, however, is not a cure. It is a treatment.