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My Preferred Test for Prediabetes - HbA1c
By pohheng | May 24, 2008
In diagnosing whether a person has prediabetes or diabetes, a doctor normally relies on the results of some specific glucose tests.
Though the traditionally preferred ways are Fasting Plasma Glucose (FPG) test and Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT), i think that the haemoglobin A1C or HbA1c test is a better test for prediabetes. Why do i say so?
When i was first diagnosed with Diabetes (Oct 07), my FPG test level was 126ml/dl which was considered diabetes. On the second test (Dec 07), i was tested on HbA1c and result was 6.3% which was Impaired Glucose Tolerance (IGT) or commonly known as prediabetes. In my next follow up check (Jan 08), my FGT was 86ml/dl (a level not even considered prediabetes) but HbA1c was still 6.4%. Lastly, in my latest follow up test (Apr 08), FPG was 74ml/dl but HbA1c was still at 6.3%. Therefore IF my first health check’s FPG was 74 or 86ml/dl instead of 126ml/dl, i would never have found out or probably know much later (maybe another year) that i have prediabetes. This will definitely cause much more harm to my body and makes it even harder to reverse prediabetes.
So why is it that my FPG is already back to normal but HbA1c is still prediabetic? For FPG, the test measures the blood glucose or sugar levels after fasting for about 12hours. Results may be vary from lab to lab / day to day and are also affected whether the blood sample was collected in the morning or afternoon. The time between drawing of the blood sample to lab testing can also be a factor. Sometimes, exercise can also matter. In addition, i suspect that what you ate right before fasting will affect the results as well. For example, eating low GI food versus high GI food and small versus large quantity.
On the other hand, HbA1c measures how high your blood glucose has been on average over the last 8-12 weeks which means a overall average level over about 3 months.
In short, FPG is like a “on the spot” test of how much glucose is in your blood but HbA1c is like how well your blood glucose’s “quality control” over a long term which is why HbA1c is my preferred test for prediabetes.
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