Type 1 Low iron and raised HBA1c

[AmeliaK]

Just before Christmas I was diagnosed with a low iron level of 23 and was put on iron tablets for 2 months. This week I had a blood test that showed my iron level has returned to normal but my HbA1c has gone up to 71. Prior to this my control had been good. I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this or heard about a connection between low iron levels and a raised HBA1c? Thank you in advance .

 

[douglas99]

Hba1c is a count that depends on red blood cells, so a low red blood cell will lower the Hba1c, and similarly a high one will raise it.

 

[AmeliaK]

That makes sense. Do you think it could have been the treatment to raise the iron levels that could have raised my hba1c at the same time?


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[carty]

That raises the question then if we lower our BGs does it lower our iron levels? If we become anaemic and have to take iron does our BG go up .Some sort of crazy roundabout
CAROL

 

[shane-1]

what controls your iron levels ?

 

[AmeliaK]

I did read that iron is vital for turning blood sugar into energy so maybe that's why low iron can lead to high BG levels? Suddenly feel like I'm ignorant to the condition I've had for 30 years!


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[Nimacado]

Now very confused. I've been taking an iron supplement for some time. I now wonder if that might have given a skewed reading on the diabetes test.


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[phoenix]

To make sure I get it correct I'm going to cut and paste this with a bit of bolding. It is recently dated Jan 2014 and is from the authority responsible for world wide standardisation of HbA1cs http://www.ngsp.org/factors.asp

Any condition that shortens erythrocyte survival or decreases mean erythrocyte age (e.g., recovery from acute blood loss, hemolytic anemia) will falsely lower HbA1c test results regardless of the assay method used [2]. HbA1c results from patients with HbSS, HbCC, and HbSC must be interpreted with caution given the pathological processes, including anemia, increased red cell turnover, and transfusion requirements, that adversely impact HbA1c as a marker of long-term glycemic control. Alternative forms of testing such as glycated serum protein or glycated albumin should be considered for these patients.
Iron deficiency anemia, a major public health problem in developing countries, is associated with higher HbA1c and higher fructosamine [3]. Consistent with these observations, iron replacement therapy lowers both HbA1c and fructosamine concentrations in diabetic and non-diabetic individuals [3-5]. HbA1c , but not glycated albumin, is increased in late pregnancy in nondiabetic individuals owing to iron deficiency [6]. Insight into the mechanism was recently obtained by the observation that malondialdehyde, which is increased in patients with iron deficiency anemia [3], enhances the glycation of hemoglobin [7]. Alternative measures of glycemic assessment (e.g., glucose monitoring) must be used in the presence of significant iron deficiency anemia, at least until the iron deficiency has been successfully treated.

 

[AmeliaK]

I spoke to my consultant who said the hba1c prior to iron treatment (whilst anaemic) will be falsely low but once iron levels return to normal so will the hba1c


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[SamJB]

Iron affects the lifetime of red blood cells. So, if they live longer they will have a greater chance of glucose getting stuck to them. The amount if glucose stuck to red blood cells is what they measure when they take your HbA1c. So when your red blood cells live longer, your HbA1c goes up.

 

[))Denise((]

On my experience of being anaemic on diagnosis with a lower HbA1c 7.7% (61) in comparison to fingerprick test, Being anaemic does give you a lower HbA1c.