Different values for bloods How do you compare

TimLaws

Active Member
Messages
29
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi,
As I try to monitor my diet v Blood sugar I am getting confused about the different types of readings quoted in the literature etc
I am Type 2
My Target result set by my GP is HbA1c 48mmol/mol (IFCC)
My 6 monthly results from the hospital labs are 43 & 46 IFCC standardised
My monitoring meter measures in mmol/L which this morning showed 6.2 a highish reading for me, so today I would be extra vigilant over what I ate and probably go a touch hungry all day to get the results down to mid 5s
How do these 2 readings compare to each other or relate to each other and what is the "normal range". Is it as simple as the 6.2 reading equates to 62 on the 6 monthly hospital reading?
Also I have seen blood sugar readings expressed as a %. What is this and how does that relate to the other 2 sets of values recorded
Any help would be gratefuly received or a pointer to a web page etc
 

phoenix

Expert
Messages
5,671
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Meter Readings
Your meter reading measures the level of glucose in your blood at the time you take the reading.
As you are in the UK the unit used is mmol/l of blood . .
The target ranges as given by Diabetes UK are here:https://www.diabetes.org.uk/Guide-to-diabetes/Monitoring/Testing/
If you were in some other countries the reading would be in mg/dl . (so if you come across someone saying their blood glucose was 60 or 90 or 150 or even 450 they are most likely to be using mg/dl. To convert mg/dl to the mmol/l you use then just divide by 18. so those levels would be 3.3, 5,8.3 and 25mmol/l )
HbA1c
The measurement that your doctor is looking at is the HbA1C. This reflects your glucose levels over a period of up to about 3 months.
Glucose in blood can stick to the haemoglobin in your blood. Once fully stuck on it stays there until the time when that cell dies .Red blood cells live for about 3 months. The HbA1c measures the proportion of haemoglobin that has glucose stuck to it. The more that is stuck on (or glycated) the higher your HbA1c will be.
HbA1c units
In the UK this is recorded in mmol/mol.
Up until a couple of years ago when International authorities introduced a new standardisation the unit was the percentage of haemoglobin glycated. When the UK introduced the new standard, they changed the unit to avoid confusion.
(I'm in France and we still use percentage as I think does the US , Australia and NZ use mmol/mol in the same way as the UK)

If you see HbA1c in terms of percentage then you can use this convertor:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/hba1c-units-converter.html
The convertor also includes in the end box an estimated average.
HbA1c; estimated average
Your HbA1c can be used to give an estimated average of your glucose levels over the last 2 or 3 months. (ie what it would be if you measured your glucose all day long and took an average of the results) The calculation comes with a big caveat in that it is estimated . For various reasons, two people with the same real average levels can have very different HbA1cs. If you are an average person though it will be in the right ball park.

43mmol/mol is an estimated average of 7.1 mmol/l
46 mmol/mol is an estimated average of 7.5 mmol/l
 
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TimLaws

Active Member
Messages
29
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Meter Readings
Your meter reading measures the level of glucose in your blood at the time you take the reading.
As you are in the UK the unit used is mmol/l of blood . .
The target ranges as given by Diabetes UK are here:https://www.diabetes.org.uk/Guide-to-diabetes/Monitoring/Testing/
If you were in some other countries the reading would be in mg/dl . (so if you come across someone saying their blood glucose was 60 or 90 or 150 or even 450 they are most likely to be using mg/dl. To convert mg/dl to the mmol/l you use then just divide by 18. so those levels would be 3.3, 5,8.3 and 25mmol/l )
HbA1c
The measurement that your doctor is looking at is the HbA1C. This reflects your glucose levels over a period of up to about 3 months.
Glucose in blood can stick to the haemoglobin in your blood. Once fully stuck on it stays there until the time when that cell dies .Red blood cells live for about 3 months. The HbA1c measures the proportion of haemoglobin that has glucose stuck to it. The more that is stuck on (or glycated) the higher your HbA1c will be.
HbA1c units
In the UK this is recorded in mmol/mol.
Up until a couple of years ago when International authorities introduced a new standardisation the unit was the percentage of haemoglobin glycated. When the UK introduced the new standard, they changed the unit to avoid confusion.
(I'm in France and we still use percentage as I think does the US , Australia and NZ use mmol/mol in the same way as the UK)

If you see HbA1c in terms of percentage then you can use this convertor:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/hba1c-units-converter.html
The convertor also includes in the end box an estimated average.
HbA1c; estimated average
Your HbA1c can be used to give an estimated average of your glucose levels over the last 2 or 3 months. (ie what it would be if you measured your glucose all day long and took an average of the results) The calculation comes with a big caveat in that it is estimated . For various reasons, two people with the same real average levels can have very different HbA1cs. If you are an average person though it will be in the right ball park.

43mmol/mol is an estimated average of 7.1 mmol/l
46 mmol/mol is an estimated average of 7.5 mmol/l
Excellent really appreciated, these forums are a great way of getting information so thank you
 

Sirmione

Well-Known Member
Messages
477
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Donald Trump
One bit of web info I found on the subject Hba1c readings although giving a sort of average over an up to 3 month period prior to the test, the results are however skewed more towards the 3 week period immediately before the test.