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HbA1c 38

MAGGYNHERKY

Active Member
Messages
27
Location
England
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Ive just got my blood test results back and my HbA1c is 38, and it says I should aim for a target 48 mmol/mol....... Anyone heard of this? Ive been on low carb diet for a while and lost nearly two stone (one more to go) and am eating a ton of veg, some protein and some carbs, very little fruit. I'm a bit lost here, as I thought getting our levels low was the aim....... I'm a type 2 diabetic with Chronic Kidney Disease and osteoarthritis, so trying to be proactive with my health....(I'm losing about 3-4 lbs a month so nothing drastic)
 
My guess it’s a general comment written on all HbA1c results in your area. I expect the majority of type 2s will have HbA1cs above 48 so the aim is to get down to 48. I”m certainly not aiming to get my mid 30s readings up to 48!
 
Rachox said:
My guess it’s a general comment written on all HbA1c results in your area. I expect the majority of type 2s will have HbA1cs above 48 so the aim is to get down to 48. I”m certainly not aiming to get my mid 30s readings up to 48!
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Exactly! I think its cos of the risk of hypoglycemia, which is interesting for me, never had this problem before this, so unsure how to tackle this gently.......I do feel the effects of very low blood sugar but I certainly don't want to eat or drink something that would raise my levels massively! Ive spent all this time lowering it lol
 
 
What medication are you on? You only have to worry about low blood sugar if you're on certain diabetic meds and with an hba1c of 38 I'd expect any medication to be reduced....
 
Mr_Pot said:
Controlling your diabetes with diet only, does not have any risk of hypoglycemia. Bear in mind that healthy non-diabetics may well have an HbA1c in the low 20's.
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Not so sure that's completely correct.. someone posted a study recently with most "normies" being in the 30's and very few lower than that.. unfortunately I've lost the reference and can't find the study.

Edit to add ... found it..!

https://www.rug.nl/research/portal/files/14502679/01c1.pdf
 
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It is usually said that non diabetic HbA1c is between 4% and 6% . On that basis there will be some non diabetics with HbA1c in the low 20's although I would agree from the research you quote that it would be unusual. If 38 is an average non diabetic HbA1c then there is very little difference between that and pre-diabetic. In fig 2 in the report it would seem that some of those tested were considered non diabetic with an HbA1c over 50.
 
Indeed but it's the only study I have ever seen that shows the results in that format with actual values.. most just use averages which is pretty useless when talking about normal levels. Hardly surprising that there are some undiagnosed T2 in a random group though.. there are likely many more out there who just don't know it.
 
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