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Plasma Glucose Tests

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Debs83

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Hi,

I'm not sure whether this is the correct place to put my query, but I have tried to research this elsewhere and I'm stumped.

I have hereditary spherocytosis (HS), which essentially means my red blood cells are unusually shaped and fragile and only have a lifespan of circa 30 days vs the typical lifespan of 120 days. This makes HBA1C tests completely useless for me in aiding a diabetes diagnosis.

Long story short - had symptoms as a teen and unbeknown to me the tests carried out were useless due to HS and now at 37 over the past year or so been suffering from acute dizzy spells/fatigue/thirst which I am trying to get to the bottom of. In addition to the useless HBA1C tests, I also had a plasma glucose test last year with a result of 7.2mmol/L and yesterday a fasting plasma glucose test which gave a result of 5.8mmol/L, which from what I can tell is leaning towards a diabetes/pre-diabetes diagnosis? My main question really is, can anyone advise how the plasma glucose tests actually work? In the case of someone with a high red blood cell turnover, is this a more reliable test than the HBA1C?

Any help/guidance/point in the right direction would be much appreciated!

Thanks
Debs
 
Debs83 said:
My main question really is, can anyone advise how the plasma glucose tests actually work? In the case of someone with a high red blood cell turnover, is this a more reliable test than the HBA1C?
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Hi @Debs83 , and welcome to the forum!

A plasma glucose tests simply tests how much glucose is in your blood at the moment of testing. Comparable with the fingerprick tests many diabetics perform multiple times a day.
As far as I know, actual blood glucose isn't affected by the turnover rate of red blood cells. A glucose test (wether by fingerprick or a plasma test from venous blood) can be diagnostic, for instance when the result is 16 mmol/l, that is a clear result.
A non fasting blood glucose of 7.2 and a fasting one of 5.8 isn't.

In people with conditions affecting the red blood cells a fructosamine test is often used instead of a hba1c, as like you said, a hba1c test is useless in your case.
You might want to ask for such a test, and you might like to monitor your blood glucose yourself for a while to get a better picture.
 
Hi @Antje77, thanks for the welcome and advice.

I have an appointment to discuss blood results this week so will ask about a fructosamine test and will look into monitoring blood glucose at home!

Thanks
Debs
 
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