The GTT test is the Glucose Tolerance Test. It is a test used to measure the reaction of the body to glucose. Typically, glucose is absorbed by the body for various energy requirements. When a patient has a glucose related disorder, this may not happen efficiently. The most common form of glucose related problems is diabetes. There are two sugar related conditions that a patient may suffer from. These are hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia. Hyperglycemia is a condition where the concentration of sugar in the blood is higher than what is considered to be normal. Hypoglycemia is the opposite condition where the concentration of blood sugar is lower than normal. Both these conditions produce telltale symptoms that make them relatively easy to diagnose. When a patient is examined by a doctor, a normal blood test would be used to confirm the condition of hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia.
A patient suffering from either of these conditions will most likely have a GTT test conducted as a follow up test. This is to diagnose the reason for the glucose imbalance. While the imbalance is easy to diagnose, its root cause requires the slightly more advanced GTT test. This test is a multiple sample test which is conducted over a period of a few hours. The first sample in the test is drawn after the patient has been fasting for a period of 8 to 12 hours. After this, the patient is fed with a glucose rich meal. Subsequent samples are drawn either after two hours or once every hour after the meal has been consumed. The two hour sample is a part of the basic GTT test whereas hourly drawing of samples is done for a more comprehensive GTT test.
There are a few possible outcomes from a GTT test. The GTT test interpretation is partly dependant on the doctor conducting the test. The level of sugar is represented in numerical form with a guide listing the range of values considered as normal. However, a patient above or below the range may be considered to be normal if the variation is slight or if there is another factor that the doctor has diagnosed which may affect the test values.
Apart from this, a person with a high result is usually listed as a case of suspected diabetes mellitus. Once the GTT test result is ready, the doctor may be able to prescribe treatment that will contain the problem.