Diabetes-Related Defintions (A-Z)

Dictionary Defintions of diabetes-related terms from A to Z adapted from the American Diabetes Association and the NIDDK (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)

fasting blood glucose test : a check of a person's blood glucose level after the person has not eaten for 8 to 12 hours (usually overnight). This test is used to diagnose pre-diabetes and diabetes. It is also used to monitor people with diabetes.

fat : 1. One of the three main nutrients in food. Foods that provide fat are butter, margarine, salad dressing, oil, nuts, meat, poultry, fish and some dairy products. 2. Excess calories are stored as body fat, providing the body with a reserve supply of energy and other functions.

fluorescein angiography (fluh-RESS-ee-in an-gee-AH-grah-fee): a test to examine blood vessels in the eye; done by injecting dye into an arm vein and then taking photos as the dye goes through the eye's blood vessels.

fructosamine test (frook-TOH-sah-meen): measures the number of blood glucose molecules (MAH-leh-kyools) linked to protein molecules in the blood. The test provides information on the average blood glucose level for the past 3 weeks.

fructose (FROOK-tohss): a sugar that occurs naturally in fruits and honey. Fructose has 4 calories per gram.