So your saying in America 5.5 % 37 is diabetic diagnosis range? with no symptoms??
Not at all. It is not even "pre-diabetic" under the U.S. definition. Maybe I worded my post badly, so here are some more details.
Yes I am in America.
In 2009, during a routine medical, I had an A1C of 5.5% (37). My doctor, quite rightly, said nothing about it.
I then skipped my annual medicals (bad idea) until early this year (2017) when it was 8.3% (67) when I had the routine medical in February and the doctor diagnosed T2 diabetes. I had no obvious symptoms of diabetes and subsequent visits to specialists have shown that I do not yet have any complications of the disease, either.
At diagnosis, I also had a very high instantaneous glucose reading (I think this number is supposed to be around 100 to 125, mine was above 200). In fact this is what prompted the doctor to order the A1C.
Here in MALLORCA for example a person with 5.7% A1C is classed as NORMAL.
Again, if you look at my original post, the 5.7% (39) is not my reading, but that of someone close to me. That reading is from three years ago. Here in America, that level is exactly the point where "pre-diabetes" begins (to see the official ADA recommendation, click on the attachment icon at the bottom of this post).
BTW I did not say this to the person I am talking about -- it is not my role to play God, or rather, to play Doctor. Having seen her 5.7% (39) reading, I merely encouraged her to ask for an A1C at her next medical which happens to be three months from now.
Edited to add: at the time, three years ago, the doctor said nothing to this person. That is his right and he is in charge.
I agree that the cutoff levels set by the ADA, and other national authorities, are somewhat arbitrary. Especially at diagnosis, multiple tests are a good idea (and these were conducted, when I was diagnosed). Furthermore, there is a margin of error, which means tests that are only just in the diabetic range should be repeated to make sure.
But we have to start somewhere. (Edited to add: If you look at the graphic I posted below, it is explicitly stated that diabetes risk is a continuous spectrum, which is in effect a warning not to get too obsessed with arbitrary cutoffs.)
Again, I apologize if my post was badly worded, or if you got the impression that I interfere in other people's lives throwing around bogus data about diabetes.
