Experts Urge One Test to Diagnose Diabetes

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Testing

I found the article very informational. I found some additional information at dlife.com Check it out at http://www.dlife.com/dLife/do/ShowContent/blood_sugar_management/testing/a1c_conversion.html.

fasting

I was told by a nurse to fast for an a1c test but drinking water during the fast was OK

fasting

I was told by a nurse to fast for an a1c test but drinking water during the fast was OK

A1c of 6.0 = Diabetes?

I am a former insurance risk analyst, and I recall when A1c came into common use.

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is very common in insurance & clinical settings.

Different labs have different normal ranges. Make sure you know what the top of normal range is. It might be 6.0 or 6.5 - you need to know this. A1c records the average glucose, and is very reliable for seeing what is going on.

If I had an A1c of 6.0 AND the top of normal range was 6.0, I'd get a repeat in a year, or a fasting glucose now. If your fastng glucose is elevated PLUS you have

a high A1c, you may have DM.

Yes, there is a lot of money being made in treating DM, but the real patient care

aim of lowering the FBG diagnostic level to catch and diagnose DM was this - many diabetics don't get diagnosed until they have had it for years. It is possible to have Type 2 for years and not know it. Meanwhile, the beginnings of complications can be occurring unseen, and unreversible. These include retina disease, heart and vascular diseases (atherosclerotic disease), leading to heart attack and stroke.

Lower levels like the 126 fasting glucose, enable more diabetics to be disagnosed & treated earlier, before complications start.

Like I used to say in the insurance biz,

high blood sugar is not the biggest problem, it is the heart disease, stroke and kidney failure that kill most diabetics.

But as a prior poster noted, these can be reversed; if I had elevated levels, I'd change my diet and start an exercise program, and might end up with normal glucose soon. I would NOT go on meds right away. Diet and exercise are often under-rated

as health treatments. Plus, I'd pray. Prayer often changes health conditions,

which I have seen happen around the world. Prayer is a very very under-rated

'therapy' but is very often quite effective.

Use A1C as a trigger for additional testing and treatment

As a Type II diabetic for more than 20 years, I was first diagnosed with a single non-fasting blood glucose test. It was over 200 about 3 hours after a meal. No doubt about it because I had all of the other symptoms - that's why I went to the doctor in the first place.

Because I was in an at-risk group (diabetes on both sides of the family), the A1C would probably have been well advised as a regular test such as the PSA (yes, controversy there as well, but it extends lives).

Use the A1C when the patient is at risk or when there are otherwise unexplained symptoms. Then follow up with other tests and get confirmation.

I have a complaint about the terms pre-diabetes or "at higher risk for diabetes". Are there any studies that confirm or deny that people with slightly elevated A1C or fasting BG will develop diabetes. I think that it is highly likely that anyone with repeat values of 6.0 or higher or with repeat values of fasting BG over 120 will proceed to full blown diabetes unless steps are taken. If these people require life-long drugs, exercise or diet, then they are diabetic - even if the A1C and BG remain in the "normal" range for life.

diabetes

my last A1c test was 6, do i have diabetes ?

Tests Will not Solve the Mess

In the United States, over 20 percent of people diagnosed with type 2 dianetes do not have the problem. Why? The medical establishment, in particular the American Diabetes Association (ADA), does not have a clue of what to do with people with "high natural glucose". People in this group do not have type 2 diabetes but are diagnosed with with condition. As a result, these people are taking diabetes pills and insulin that can kill and disable by increasing the risk for heart disease ans stroke.(The reader may wish to refer to the book, Reverse Type 2 Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease.) Diabetes has become a money making scheme for medical establishemt. For example, and in support of the above assertion, the cost of treating diabetes has increased more than four-fold since 1997, the year the ADA adopted a fasting glucose of 126 mg/dl or higher as diabetic.

Not That Simple

Does this mean that if I manage my A1C throught MEDICATIONS, diet and exercise to a point where I consistantly test in the 6.0 level, then I don't have diabeties..... I Don't Think So.... An average is just that, an average. It doesn't reflect the peaks and valleys (yes I have been known to cheat) that are highlighted with frequent testing.

Great Idea. A1c is less volatile and more accurate

For years life insurance companies have used the A1c as a measure of whether a person is pre-diabetic, diabetic, and if they are diabetic, how well controlled the situation is. The reason they have used and I think the most valid argument for the medical community to use it as a baseline is that, simply put, it is less volatile than glucose testing.

A fasting glucose test, a snapshot at best, only tells the doctor what is going on at that very second in time. It is not unusual for someone who is undeniably diabetic to be able to produce stellar fasting glucose tests. On the other hand with the A1c, it is virtually impossible to miss the fact that, on average, a person's glucose is running well above guideline normal.