Current Methods for Diagnosing Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Indirect methods of insulin assay used in the clinical laboratory have certain inherent flaws. The glucose tolerance test can easily be influenced by such factors as the pretest carbohydrate diet, inactivity, old age, obesity, fever and diurnal variation. Many diseases other than diabetes may produce abnormal responses. For these reasons, careful standardization is necessary. Without standardization the test yields such diverse results that an abnormal response cannot be interpreted.