Other names: Fasting Blood Glucose, Random blood sugar, Blood sugar level, Fasting blood sugar, Glucose test, Diabetic screening - blood sugar test, Diabetes - blood sugar test
Glucose, often referred to as blood sugar, is the primary source of energy for your body’s cells, including your brain. It comes from the foods you eat—especially carbohydrates like fruit, bread, rice, pasta, and cereal. Once digested, carbohydrates are rapidly broken down into glucose, which enters your bloodstream.
To help your body use glucose effectively, a hormone called insulin (produced by your pancreas) moves glucose from your blood into your cells. When this process doesn’t work properly, glucose builds up in your blood—leading to high blood sugar levels, a hallmark of diabetes.
A glucose blood test measures the amount of glucose circulating in your blood. It’s often included as part of a routine Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (CMP) or Basic Metabolic Panel (BMP).
Monitoring blood glucose is essential for detecting:
Prediabetes and type 2 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes
Gestational diabetes (diabetes during pregnancy)
Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)
Hyperglycemia (high blood sugar)
Yes—if your test is part of a fasting blood glucose or CMP, you’ll likely need to fast for 10 to 12 hours before your blood draw. This helps ensure that the result reflects your baseline (fasting) blood sugar, not a temporary increase after eating. Always follow your healthcare provider’s instructions.
There are several ways to measure blood glucose:
Taken after you haven’t eaten for 8+ hours.
Often used to screen for diabetes or prediabetes.
Taken at any time, regardless of when you last ate.
Used when symptoms of abnormal blood sugar are present.
Taken exactly 2 hours after a meal.
Often used in people with diabetes to assess insulin response.
Measures how your body handles glucose over time.
Commonly used to diagnose gestational diabetes.
Reflects your average blood glucose over the past 2–3 months.
A key test for diagnosing and monitoring diabetes.
Fasting glucose: 70 to 100 mg/dL (3.9–5.6 mmol/L) is considered normal.
Random glucose: Typically below 125 mg/dL (6.9 mmol/L), but can vary based on recent food intake.
A1c: A result below 5.7% is considered normal.
Your lab report will include reference ranges, but your doctor will interpret results based on your overall health, age, and risk factors.
Increased thirst and frequent urination
Fatigue
Blurred vision
Slow-healing wounds
Unexplained weight loss
Numbness or tingling in the hands or feet
If very high, symptoms can include vomiting, deep breathing, or confusion—seek emergency care, as this may indicate diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA).
Shaking or trembling
Sweating
Dizziness or confusion
Intense hunger
Rapid heartbeat
Irritability or anxiety
Severe hypoglycemia can lead to fainting, seizures, or brain damage. Quick treatment with fast-acting carbohydrates like fruit juice or glucose tablets is critical.
Diabetes (type 1 or 2)
Pancreatic disorders
Cushing’s syndrome or adrenal disorders
Acute illness or stress in hospitalized patients
Diabetes medications
Liver disease
Hormonal deficiencies
Insulin-producing tumors (rare)
Diabetes is a chronic condition where the body has trouble producing or using insulin properly, leading to high blood sugar levels. Over time, uncontrolled diabetes can damage the eyes, kidneys, nerves, and heart.
Age 45 or older
Being overweight or obese
Family history of diabetes
Sedentary lifestyle
High blood pressure
History of heart disease or stroke
Having had gestational diabetes
If you're pregnant, a glucose test is typically performed between 24 and 28 weeks to screen for gestational diabetes.
Regular monitoring of your glucose levels is key to preventing or managing diabetes and other metabolic conditions. Whether you're fasting for a CMP or checking for symptoms, understanding your glucose results can empower you to make informed health decisions.
Always discuss your lab results with your healthcare provider to understand what’s normal for you.
Your medical lab tests hold vital information about your health. Our tools help you understand what's going on and how to take action.
Cancel or upgrade anytime
Hyperglycemia refers to elevated levels of glucose (sugar) in the bloodstream. It is commonly associated with diabetes, but can also result from other health conditions.
Increased thirst
Frequent urination
Blurred vision
Slow-healing wounds or frequent infections
These symptoms may develop gradually and can worsen if left untreated.
An elevated blood glucose level typically indicates:
Type 1 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes
Prediabetes
Gestational diabetes
Or in some cases, other medical conditions
Let’s look at each of these more closely:
An autoimmune condition where the body does not produce insulin
Often diagnosed in children and young adults
Requires lifelong insulin therapy
Occurs when the body becomes resistant to insulin or doesn’t produce enough
More common in adults, especially those who are overweight or physically inactive
Can often be managed or reversed with lifestyle changes, including weight loss, healthy eating, and regular exercise
A condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not yet diabetic
Increases your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke
Lifestyle changes can significantly reduce the risk of progression
A form of diabetes that develops during pregnancy
Typically screened between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy
May occur earlier in women with risk factors for type 2 diabetes
Usually resolves after childbirth, but increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life
If a woman has gestational, type 1, or type 2 diabetes during pregnancy, her healthcare provider will monitor glucose levels closely throughout pregnancy and postpartum to ensure maternal and fetal health.
Hyperglycemia may also result from non-diabetic conditions, including:
Hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid)
Kidney disease
Pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas)
Pancreatic cancer
These conditions may disrupt how insulin is produced or how your body uses glucose, contributing to elevated blood sugar levels.
If you're experiencing symptoms of high blood sugar or have risk factors for diabetes, speak with your healthcare provider about getting a blood glucose test. Early detection and management are key to preventing complications like nerve damage, kidney disease, and cardiovascular problems.
Anthony
Unlimited Plan Member since 2021
I have been using Healthmatters.io since 2021. I travel all over the world and use different doctors and health facilities. This site has allowed me to consolidate all my various test results over 14 years in one place. And every doctor that I show this to has been impressed. Because with any health professional I talk to, I can pull up historical results in seconds. It is invaluable. Even going back to the same doctor, they usually do not have the historical results from their facility in a graph format. That has been very helpful.
Karin
Advanced Plan Member since 2020
What fantastic service and great, easy-to-follow layouts! I love your website; it makes it so helpful to see patterns in my health data. It's truly a pleasure to use. I only wish the NHS was as organized and quick as Healthmatters.io. You've set a new standard for health tracking!
Paul
Healthmatters Pro Member since 2024
As a PRO member and medical practitioner, Healthmatters.io has been an invaluable tool for tracking my clients' data. The layout is intuitive, making it easy to monitor trends and spot patterns over time. The ability to customize reports and charts helps me present information clearly to my clients, improving communication and outcomes. It's streamlined my workflow, saving me time and providing insights at a glance. Highly recommended for any practitioner looking for a comprehensive and user-friendly solution to track patient labs!
Low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia, happens when your blood glucose level drops below 70 mg/dL (3.9 mmol/L). Blood sugar levels naturally fluctuate throughout the day, but when they fall too low, it can become dangerous—especially for people with type 1 diabetes or those taking insulin or certain diabetes medications.
Prompt recognition and treatment are essential to avoid serious complications.
Knowing the signs of low blood sugar is key to treating it early and preventing it from becoming severe. Symptoms can vary from person to person but may include:
Shaking or trembling
Sweating or chills
Rapid heartbeat
Irritability or confusion
Dizziness or lightheadedness
Intense hunger
Anxiety or nervousness
Weakness or fatigue
If left untreated, low blood sugar can lead to fainting, seizures, or loss of consciousness.
Several factors can contribute to hypoglycemia, especially in people with diabetes. These include:
Taking too much insulin or diabetes medication
Skipping meals or not eating enough carbohydrates
Exercising more than usual
Drinking alcohol, especially without food
Delays in meals or unexpected changes in routine
Hot, humid weather or being at high altitudes
Hormonal changes such as puberty or menstruation
Even people without diabetes can experience low blood sugar under certain conditions.
Occurs within a few hours after eating and is caused by too much insulin release. Common in people with:
Prediabetes
A history of stomach surgery
Rare enzyme disorders
Occurs after not eating for several hours or overnight. Causes may include:
Certain medications (e.g., aspirin, sulfa drugs)
Excessive alcohol use
Liver, kidney, or adrenal disorders
Hormone deficiencies
Rare insulin-secreting tumors
Some individuals may not feel typical symptoms of low blood sugar. This condition, called hypoglycemia unawareness, makes it harder to detect and treat lows early, increasing the risk of severe episodes.
You may be at higher risk if you:
Have had diabetes for over 5–10 years
Frequently experience low blood sugar
Take beta blockers or other medications that mask symptoms
If you have hypoglycemia unawareness, monitor your blood sugar more often—especially before driving or physical activity.
Low blood sugar can occur while you sleep, especially if you:
Had a very active day
Exercised close to bedtime
Took insulin or other medications at night
Drank alcohol in the evening
You might wake up with symptoms like sweating, headache, or confusion—but not always. A Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) can alert you during the night if your levels drop too low. Eating a snack before bed can also help prevent overnight lows.
A blood glucose level below 54 mg/dL (3.0 mmol/L) is considered severely low and can lead to:
Slurred speech
Trouble walking or seeing
Strange behavior or confusion
Seizures
Fainting or unconsciousness
Severe hypoglycemia is a medical emergency. You may need help from someone else to treat it, including a glucagon injection or emergency medical care.
If your blood sugar is between 55–69 mg/dL:
Eat 15 grams of fast-acting carbohydrates (e.g., ½ cup of juice, 4 glucose tablets, or regular soda).
Wait 15 minutes, then recheck your blood sugar.
If still low, repeat the process.
Once back in range, eat a small snack or meal to stabilize your levels.
Important: Young children often need less than 15 grams of carbs. Speak with your child’s healthcare provider for specific guidance.
If you have diabetes, you can reduce your risk by:
Eating consistent, balanced meals and snacks
Timing meals and insulin properly
Monitoring your blood sugar as recommended
Adjusting food or activity levels based on blood sugar readings
Drinking alcohol with food and only in moderation
Knowing when your medications are most active (peak action time)
Wearing a medical ID bracelet that says you have diabetes
Eat small, frequent meals with balanced nutrients (protein, fiber, healthy fats)
Limit intake of high-sugar foods
Work with your healthcare provider to identify potential causes and treatment
Low blood sugar can happen to anyone, but it’s most common among people managing diabetes with insulin or other medications. Learning to recognize your symptoms—and how to respond—can prevent emergencies and help you stay healthy.
If you have frequent lows or symptoms of hypoglycemia unawareness, speak with your doctor. You may need to adjust your treatment plan, diet, or monitoring routine.
References
Guiding our users for 10 years to promptly understand, track, and act on their laboratory results.
$15/month
Cancel your subscription at any time.
$250/once
full premium version
$45/month
track your clients’ labs
Cancel your subscription at any time.
Guiding our users for 10 years to promptly understand, track, and act on their laboratory results.
Personal plans
track personal results
Professional Plan
track multiple client's results
$15/month
$250/once
own it for life
$45/month
for health professionals
Complete Plan
Unlimited Plan
$15 / month
$250 full version
Are you a health professional?
Level up your lab report analysis with our Pro plan, built for health practitioners like you.
Health Business Account
$45/month
Cancel your subscription at any time.
Unlock additional Pro plans when you sign up.
Anthony
Unlimited Plan Member since 2021
I have been using Healthmatters.io since 2021. I travel all over the world and use different doctors and health facilities. This site has allowed me to consolidate all my various test results over 14 years in one place. And every doctor that I show this to has been impressed. Because with any health professional I talk to, I can pull up historical results in seconds. It is invaluable. Even going back to the same doctor, they usually do not have the historical results from their facility in a graph format. That has been very helpful.
Karin
Advanced Plan Member since 2020
What fantastic service and great, easy-to-follow layouts! I love your website; it makes it so helpful to see patterns in my health data. It's truly a pleasure to use. I only wish the NHS was as organized and quick as Healthmatters.io. You've set a new standard for health tracking!
Paul
Healthmatters Pro Member since 2024
As a PRO member and medical practitioner, Healthmatters.io has been an invaluable tool for tracking my clients' data. The layout is intuitive, making it easy to monitor trends and spot patterns over time. The ability to customize reports and charts helps me present information clearly to my clients, improving communication and outcomes. It's streamlined my workflow, saving me time and providing insights at a glance. Highly recommended for any practitioner looking for a comprehensive and user-friendly solution to track patient labs!
Healthmatters is a highly-personalized health dashboard.
Instead of searching for your lab results in different places or tracking them down from different providers, Healthmatters houses, organizes, and interprets them all in one central location.
With a Healthmatters account, you can dive into the details of each biomarker and gain insights into the meaning behind your medical test data, anytime, anywhere.
For our professional users, Healthmatters provides intuitive tools that not only streamline analysis but also save valuable time when delving into your client's lab report history.
Healthmatters.io personal account provides in-depth research on 4000+ biomarkers, including information and suggestions for test panels such as, but not limited to:
You can combine all test reports inside your Healthmatters account and keep them in one place. It gives you an excellent overview of all your health data. Once you retest, you can add new results and compare them.
If you are still determining whether Healthmatters support your lab results, the rule is that if you can test it, you can upload it to Healthmatters.
While we work with many popular labs, we welcome reports from lots of other places too.
It's as simple as this: if you can get a test done, you can upload it to Healthmatters and we can interpret results from any lab out there. If laboratories can analyze it, we can interpret it.
If you’re on the hunt for a specific biomarker, contact us and we'll add it to our database. Anything from blood, urine, saliva, or stool can be uploaded, understood, and tracked with your Healthmatters account.
There are two ways to add your test reports to your Healthmatters account. One option is to input the data using the data entry forms. The other method is to utilize our "Data entry service."
Our data entry forms offer an easy, fast, and free way for you to input the reports yourself. Self-entry allows you to add an unlimited number of reports at no cost. We make the self-entry process user-friendly, providing dozens of templates that pre-populate the most popular laboratory panels and offering instant feedback on entered values.
For those who prefer assistance, we offer a "Data entry service" to help you input your data. Simply attach an image or file of your lab test results, and a qualified team member from our data entry team will add the results for you.
We support various file types, including PDFs, JPGs, or Excel. This service is particularly useful if you have many reports to upload or if you're too busy to handle the data entry yourself.
Our special data entry service makes it easy to add your results to your private dashboard. Just attach an image or a file of your lab test results, and our skilled data entry team will do the work for you. It's all done by humans, ensuring that your data is entered accurately and with personal care for each client.
Depending on your account, the data entry service can be included for free or come at an additional cost of $15 per report.
For users on the Complete monthly plan, the first report is entered free of charge, and each additional report incurs a fee of $15.
Unlimited account holders enjoy the entry of ten reports without charge. Subsequent reports are subject to a $15 fee per report.
Additionally, users on the Complete plan can upgrade to a yearly subscription from the account settings. The annual subscription includes a data entry service for five reports.
The Unlimited plan is a one-time purchase for $250, and it covers your account for a lifetime with no additional payments.
For the Complete plan, the cost is $15 per month. You have the flexibility to cancel it anytime through your account settings, ensuring no further payments. To avoid charges, remember to cancel at least a day before the renewal date. Once canceled, the subscription remains active until the end of the current billing cycle.
Additionally, you can upgrade to the yearly Advanced plan from within your account. The annual cost is $79, and it comes with a data entry service for five reports.
You can always upgrade to a lifetime version with a prorated price from a monthly or yearly subscription.
Simply log in and navigate to your account settings to cancel your subscription. Scroll down to locate the 'Cancel' button at the bottom of the page. Ensure you cancel at least one day before the renewal date to prevent any charges. Once cancellation is requested, the subscription remains active until the conclusion of the current billing cycle.
Our goal has been to make your Healthmatters account as intuitive as possible.
We’ve crafted multiple ways for you to navigate your data, whether you're glancing at a single report or delving into your historical test reports.
1. Graph View:Dive into a visual journey with our biomarker graphs, showcasing over 40 data points. Combining years of results unveils trends, empowering you to make informed decisions. Our visualization tools make it a breeze to compare and understand changes over time, even if your results are from different labs. A search function and filters simplify the exploration of extensive data, allowing you to focus on what needs attention.
2. All Tests ViewExplore neatly organized reports on a timeline, highlighting crucial details like dates, critical results, and lab/panel names. Each report opens up to reveal in-depth descriptions and additional recommendations for each biomarker. The history of previous results is just a click away, and you can download a comprehensive report for deeper insights. Color-coded and user-friendly, it's designed for easy reading, understanding, and navigation.
3. Table View:For a holistic view of all biomarkers side by side, our table view is your go-to. Results are neatly displayed in a categorized and dated table, ideal for those with an extensive test history. Utilize sorting, filters, and color-coding to enhance your analysis and gain extra insights.
Yes, you can download information from your account. We can compile your labs into a CSV file. To download all your labs, you can go to Account Settings, and at the bottom of the page, you will find a link to download your information.
Yes, you can print your report. To do so, navigate to "All tests" and open the report you wish to print. You'll find a print button in the right corner of the report. Click on it, and your browser's print window will open. If you prefer to print in a bigger typeface, adjust the scale using the print window settings.
Yes, you can! We highly recommend activating Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) for your account. To do so, please navigate to the "Profile and Security" section of your account, where you will find instructions for activating 2FA.
Yes, you can. When entering values for the biomarker, you will see an "Edit Range" button. Click this button, and you'll have the option to enter a custom range.
A personal account is all about keeping your own lab test results in check. It's just for you and your personal use.
The professional account is designed for health professionals who wish to track and organize their clients' laboratory results.
To learn more about Healthmatters Pro, please refer to the professional page.
At HealthMatters, we're committed to maintaining the security and confidentiality of your personal information. We've put industry-leading security standards in place to help protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of the information under our control. We use procedural, physical, and electronic security methods designed to prevent unauthorized people from getting access to this information. Our internal code of conduct adds additional privacy protection. All data is backed up multiple times a day and encrypted using SSL certificates. See our Privacy Policy for more details.
Adjusted Calcium, Alanine-aminotransferase (ALT, SGPT), Albumin, Serum, Albumin/Globulin (A/G) Ratio, Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP), Aspartate-aminotransferase (AST, SGOT), AST/ALT Ratio, Bilirubin Total, Blood urea nitrogen (BUN), Bone Isoenzymes, BUN/Creatinine Ratio, Calcium, Serum, Calcium, Total (RBCs), Calcium/ Albumin Ratio, Calcium/Phosphorous Ratio, Carbon Dioxide (CO2), CHLORIDE, RANDOM URINE, Chloride, Serum, CHLORIDE/CREAT RATIO, Creatine Clearance, Creatinine, Serum, eGFR - Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (African Am), eGFR - Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (Non-African Am), eGFR / Cystatin C, Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4), Globulin, Serum (aka Globulin, Total), Glucose, Glucose Non-Fasting, Intestinal Isoenzymes (Alkaline Phosphatase), Liver Isoenzymes, Macrohepatic Isoenzymes, Placental Isoenzymes, POTASSIUM, RANDOM URINE, Potassium, Serum (Kalium), POTASSIUM/CREAT RATIO, Selenium, RBC, SODIUM, RANDOM URINE, Sodium, Serum (Natrium), SODIUM/CREAT RATIO, Sodium/Potassium Ratio, Total Protein, Serum, Urea
