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The numbers are confusing!

M

MorbidCaterpillar

Member
Messages
11
Type of diabetes
Don't have diabetes
Treatment type
I do not have diabetes
I hope I'm putting this question in the right place. I was diagnosed type 2 last week after a blood test. So I had my first appointment officially for my diabetes today with the nurse and then GP. The GP gave me a print out of the results of my last blood test as she said "I should become familiar with the numbers". The problem is, the numbers weren't explained to me, so I'm trying to look on the internet but my brains in the process of exploding with all of the different information. These are the results in question:

Haemoglobin A1c level - [BEN] - Abnormal - needs repeat
Hemoglobin Ac level 9.4% total Hb
HbA1c levl - IFCC standardised 79 mmol/mol

What exactly am I learning from these numbers? Is one more important than the other?

I am going back to see the nurse next week to get set up for home blood testing so I presume they'll let me know more at that point, but I'd like to have a better idea now so that I'm not bombarded with loads of new info all in one go.

Thanks to anyone who can help or point me in the right direction.
 
The two numbers are the same test result, just different units. It's a measurement of the glycation of red blood cells. The higher your blood glucose, the higher the glycation, and hence the higher the HbA1c. People on average regenerate all their red blood cells in about 3 months. So, the HbA1c is essentially a measurement of how high your blood glucose levels have been over the last three months. There is more info here: http://www.diabetes.co.uk/what-is-hba1c.html
 
NoCrbs4Me said:
The two numbers are the same test result, just different units. It's a measurement of the glycation of red blood cells. The higher your blood glucose, the higher the glycation, and hence the higher the HbA1c. People on average regenerate all their red blood cells in about 3 months. So, the HbA1c is essentially a measurement of how high your blood glucose levels have been over the last three months. There is more info here: http://www.diabetes.co.uk/what-is-hba1c.html
Click to expand...

Thank you! That is extremely helpful. The various charts on that page help put the figures in context.
 
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