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Numbers ? UK and the USA differ

Which diabetic number system do you use

  • Total voters
    43
Nigel Fenton

Nigel Fenton

Member
Messages
15
Location
New York, USA
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi people,

Being as the diabetic problem is a global problem it makes me wonder why different areas assign different number systems. In the UK 5 is not bad whereas in the USA 90 is deemed not bad. I admit after a few years it gets easier to convert but wish my meter did it automatically.

</rant off>
 
I guess it's the age-old question about why so much is measured differently in different parts of the world:
- we all drive but some measure distance in km and some in miles (try driving from Irish Republic to Northern Ireland)
- many people have an interest in our weights but some use pound, some stones and some kg.
- I now know my height in feet and metres because you never know what is wanted

I guess we just learn to be ambi-unit-extrous.
 
Thanks for the little calculator that make is a breeze.

Im not questioning what numbers to use here i'm British and this is .CO.UK so of course we use British numbers.

I tell all my US friends to come here as the info is so good and the help is second to none. Thanks for the great work.

Regards
Nigel
 
I use the UK system only because my meter is setup that way here in Australia.

Other than that I have been fully metrificated for nearly fifty years. :D
 
Like many other measurements almost the entire world uses mmol/L while the US stubbornly insists on using odd sizes like gallons that are only 4/5 of a gallon, like miles instead of kilometers. I find it a relatively small bother having to translate from one form to the other if I read US material, and fortunately my Bayer Next meter can give results in either form. Fortunately, here in Canada we are with the rest of the world, so I don't regard mmol/L as a UK measurement, but as a world measurement.
 
UK to US units conversion multiply by 18 and vica versa IIRC.
 
This applies to HbA1C:

"Officially, there is worldwide consensus that HbA1c should be reported in both NGSP (%) and IFCC (mmol/mol) units along with eAG (in either mmol/L or mg/dL). However, the decision on what to report is actually being made country by country. In the US, reporting NGSP % HbA1c along with eAG has been recommended by the ADA and the AACC. Some other countries have also decided, most will report IFCC and NGSP and some will switch to IFCC only in two years. Although the world will again be reporting different numbers, results will be traceable to IFCC numbers as well as to clinical data through linear equations that are carefully monitored. The ADA, IDF, EASD, and ISPAD as well as other member associations in different countries currently provide patient care guidelines that relate directly to NGSP (DCCT/UKPDS) numbers. These will need to be updated to include both NGSP and IFCC numbers."

Source: http://www.ngsp.org/docs/IFCCstd.pdf. That report was issued some years back.

I am in the USA and here it does seem that the older system (NGSP) is still prevalent, even if the ADA recommended reporting both numbers. Too bad -- it would be better if all countries routinely used the same units, presumably the newer IFCC scale. It is not unusual for the USA to go its own way with units. We still use Fahrenheit temperatures here!!!!!
 
surely by now the World Health Organization should have negotiated 1 System For those who think the UK system is used worldwide apart from the U.S. Wrong a lot of countries use mg/dl including Thailand Finally My Accuchek meter Can be set to either system.
 
It isn't just blood glucose measurement units that differ. The USA (and maybe other places) have some weird and wonderful measurement units for other blood markers, too.
 
Is not so much a USA system and a UK system. It is more a world wide system, then the USA thinking they know better.....
 
I Wonder what the real figures are I don't think it is the USA that out of line I think Most of Europe and Asia us the same system as the USA I agree it would be sensible to have one system but if we cant agree about most things why should this be anything different
 
ringi said:
Is not so much a USA system and a UK system. It is more a world wide system, then the USA thinking they know better.....
Click to expand...

It is not necessarily as sinister as that.

I'm a European living in America for the past 18 years. In my opinion the issue is more that, compared to (say) Europeans, Americans are far less aware of the world outside their frontiers. It's a large, sparsely populated country and geographically isolated. This is still the attitude even with globalization and a long history of substantial immigration.

I didn't even know that there was more than one set of units for HbA1C until I found this forum! American doctors, test labs, and information sources tend to give only the NGSP percentage numbers.
 
Grateful said:
I didn't even know that there was more than one set of units for HbA1C until I found this forum! American doctors, test labs, and information sources tend to give only the NGSP percentage numbers.
Click to expand...

Also be aware that the USA uses different units for other blood markers (but not all of them) so watch out if comparing yours to others on this forum. If posting on here it is wise to include the units. I have fallen foul of this with triglycerides.
 
Can most meters out there not provide a measurement in the units of your choosing.....if your doesn't just get one that does....
 
Mostly the units a meter uses are set before it is shipped out to a user, with no documented way of changing them. The aproval systems for medical equipment in most of the world, requires meteres to use the "correct" units.
 
ringi said:
Mostly the units a meter uses are set before it is shipped out to a user, with no documented way of changing them. The aproval systems for medical equipment in most of the world, requires meteres to use the "correct" units.
Click to expand...

Some allow you to chose one or the other when you order them. I assume if you buy one in the UK at a pharmacy or on prescription they will be in UK measurements.
 
I see from @Dark Horse 's table.....
Diabetes is a very complex disease for the average
person to manage, it should be taken seriously and
under the expert guidance of a veterinarian.
That't where I have been going wrong! :)
 
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