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HBA1C v A1C

M

marianhf

Member
Hi all
my practice has changed my blood test from the HBA1C to the A1C. The original ones were fasting (at least 12 hours before the test) and the latest one is non-fasting. I was assurred by the diabetes nurse that it gave the same results. Is this correct? or is it just a cost cutting measure?
 
Hi The HbA1C doesn't need to be fasting anyway, as it indicates the level of blood glucose over the last 2-3 months. Your current bs doesn't matter. Sounds like a load of bs (of the other kind) to me.
 
As I understand it, A1C is just shorthand for HbA1c. They are both a sort of average of your blood sugar levels over the past 2 to 3 months, so, in either case, what you had for breakfast, if anything, is largely irrelevant.
By the way, welcome to the forum.
Sally
 
They used to do fasting blood test at the same time and cholesterol which also needs to be fasting. Hba1c does not need to be.
 
The HbA1c and the A1c are exactly the same test. Using A1c is simply an abbreviation. Neither require fasting, but cholesterol and a fasting blood glucose snapshot test do.
 
Hi @marianhf .. and welcome
Well, I'm now wondering what that means for my figures ..
Diagnosis on 7th Feb - HbA1C 98 : BG 12.5 : Chol 7.10 : HDL 1.29 : LDL 4.86
First appt 10th Mar - HbA1C 68 : BG 6.1 : (no chol data)
I have another blood test on 23rd March and I have NOT been asked to do any fasting before ANY tests
 

NICE recommendations now are that cholesterol tests are not required to be fasting. However, if the tests are to include triglycerides than it is very wise to ignore that and fast anyway, otherwise you could find your trigs are a lot higher than desired. This is because after food your trigs will be swimming round your blood stream doing their job and too many will end up in your sample. When fasting, the liver doesn't produce very many and they are asleep.
There is no need to fast for an HbA1c.
There is need to fast for a BG test unless the doc wants a random one, in which case it will say random on the lab report, or should do.
 
@AM1874 You might as well fast for blood tests as you don't always get told fully and properly what tests are actually going to be carried out on your samples and fasting won't spoil any tests and will assist with accuracy in others.
Sally
 
sally and james said:
@AM1874 You might as well fast for blood tests as you don't always get told fully and properly what tests are actually going to be carried out on your samples and fasting won't spoil any tests and will assist with accuracy in others.
Sally
Click to expand...
I will .. in future. My point is that since I have not fasted for any of the tests that I have had, are my results likely to be accurate or skewed?
 
Bear in mind that some surgerys, including mine, no longer do a breakdown of cholesterol results, so fasting, I have been told, is not necessary ; (
 
AM1874 said:
I will .. in future. My point is that since I have not fasted for any of the tests that I have had, are my results likely to be accurate or skewed?
Click to expand...
No, hba1c doesn't require fasting, cholesterol is debatable and your random BG level will be random and not fasted if you hadn't been fasting. Regardless, 12.9 indicates diabetes anyway, fasted or random, as do both of your hba1c which is simply a snapshot of glycated hemoglobin over 2-3 months and is not influenced by your last meal.
 
AM1874 said:
I will .. in future. My point is that since I have not fasted for any of the tests that I have had, are my results likely to be accurate or skewed?
Click to expand...

No. You had HbA1cs which don't need fasting for
You had a random BG
You didn't have a Trigs score.

What you need to delete is in your signature where you say fasting BG 12.5 and 6.1. It wasn't fasting if you didn't fast, it was random. (ie post meal)
 
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Hi @Bluetit1802 .. I agree and my sig is now amended. Interesting, though, that I copied my data - word for word - from my med records that my Doc completed immediately after I was diagnosed and after follow-up appointment. In all honesty, I was so rattled at the time that I didn't notice (or question) that my BG had been put down as "fasting" when it clearly wasn't .. and I havn't thought about it since .. until now.
Perhaps I should forward this thread to my Doc ..
 
HbA1c stands for "Haemoglobin Ac1" so is exactly the same as Ac1, its just an abbreviation.

There is no need to fast for a HbA1c/A1c.

The only test you will normally have to fast for is a cholesterol "full lipid panel" test as any fat eaten in the hours before a test will skew the results as digested fat is quite normally carried through the bloodstream as cholesterol.


The paragraphs below in italics and between quotation marks are taken from medical sources, they are not my own assumptions.

Haemoglobin.
"About 90% of hemoglobin is hemoglobin A. (The "A" stands for adult type.) Although one chemical component accounts for 92% of hemoglobin A, approximately 8% of hemoglobin A is made up of minor components that are chemically slightly different. These minor components include hemoglobin A1c, A1b, A1a1, and A1a2."

Fats.
"Lipase enzymes break down fat into fatty acids and glycerol. Digestion of fat in the small intestine is helped by bile, made in the liver. Bile breaks the fat into small droplets that are easier for the lipase enzymes to work on.
Most lipids that you consume in your diet are fats. Some digestion occurs in your mouth and the stomach, but most takes place in the small intestine. Bile is produced by your liver, stored and released in your gall bladder and emulsifies fat globules into smaller droplets".

Cholesterol.
"Cholesterol is a fat (also called a lipid) that your body needs to work properly. Too much bad cholesterol can increase your chance of getting heart disease, stroke, and other problems. The medical term for high blood cholesterol is lipid disorder, hyperlipidemia, or hypercholesterolemia".
 
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