HbA1c results in relation to familiar every-day measurements - the near future
Judith Kuenen , Rikke Borg
Volume 54 | Issue 1 | March 2009
Haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) is widely used to determine levels of long-term blood glucose, judge the adequacy of diabetes management, and adjust therapies. HbA1c results are expressed as the percentage of haemoglobin that is exposed to glucose (glycated). People’s day-to-day diabetes management is guided by self-monitoring of capillary glucose concentrations, which are measured in mmol/l or mg/dl. The A1c Derived Average Glucose (ADAG) study defined the mathematical relationship between HbA1c and average glucose, and concluded that, for people with either type 1 diabetes or type 2 diabetes, HbA1c might be expressed and reported as an estimated average glucose in the same units as those used in self-monitoring. This would improve the way HbA1c test results are interpretated and reported, eliminating potential confusion.