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Message: <blockquote data-quote="cugila" data-source="post: 99223" data-attributes="member: 15325">Fructosamine testing has been available since the 1980s. Both fructosamine and HbA1C tests are used primarily as monitoring tools to help diabetics control their blood sugar, but the HbA1C test is much more popular and more widely accepted. Fructosamine may be useful in situations where HbA1C cannot be reliably measured. These include: Rapid changes in diabetes treatment – fructosamine allows the effectiveness of diet or medication adjustments to be evaluated after a couple of weeks rather than months Diabetic pregnancy – good control is essential during pregnancy, and the needs of the mother frequently change during gestation; fructosamine measurements may occasionally be requested along with glucose levels to help monitor and accommodate shifting glucose and insulin requirements RBC loss or abnormalities – an HbA1C test will not be accurate when a patient has a condition that affects the average age of red blood cells (RBCs) present, such as haemolytic anaemia or blood loss. The presence of some haemoglobin variants may affect certain methods for measuring HbA1c. In these cases, fructosamine can be used to monitor glucose control. Since the fructosamine concentrations of well-controlled diabetics may overlap with those of non-diabetics, the fructosamine test is not useful as a screen for diabetes.</blockquote>

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