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Question about blood glucose and hemoglobin test results

N

normalhuman

Newbie
Messages
4
Type of diabetes
Don't have diabetes
Treatment type
I do not have diabetes
I am considered a very healthy person by everyone that knows me. 31M, 5'9", 155 pounds, lightweight muscular build. However, I don't exercise very often and I have a tendency to binge eat, but it doesn't cause me to gain weight for whatever reason.

I got some routine blood testing done and my blood glucose is at 103 and Hemoglobin A1C is at 5.2. I had the blood drawn at 9am after having fasted for about 12 hours.

I'm looking for someone to help me interpret these results. Thanks very much!
 
Hi @normalhuman -

You are using the US form of units, but they both pretty much are equivalent, and say the same thing - your blood glucose is in the range considered normal.

A fasting plasma glucose level between 100 and 125 mg/dL (5.6 to 6.9 mmol/L) or an HbA1c level between 5.7% and 6.4% is considered prediabetes, meaning an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

"fasting plasma" simply means the amount of measurable glucose molecules in a blood sample - so that's like a snapshot.

HbA1c - this is more like an average over a period of roughly three months. It measures the amount of glycation of blood haemoglobin - so the blood cells live for around 3 months, and this is a measure of how often they have bumped into a glucose molecule in that time... so a measure of average glucose levels.

As I say, in both cases; under the threshold for pre-diabetes in the US - or rather the plasma is just over, but the A1c is under. (A1c will be used for diagnosis, your levels can vary quite a lot through the day for lots of non-food reasons)

Binge eating isn't directly a problem in itself, depending on what you are binge eating on and why - But I'm certainly not going to judge anyone for that - used to be I'd be very twitchy if I didn't have a big bag of snacks and a bottle of wine to settle into most nights.
 
Thanks for the response! Would you be willing to clarify – my glucose level is 103, which falls between the 100-125 mark – so how come you say I'm in the range considered normal? Thank you.
 
Because it's on the threshold and the HbA1c takes precedence as your spot measurement result will vary a lot over the day.

there are things you can do if you are concerned, but there is no particular need to be concerned.
 
Chris24Main said:
Because it's on the threshold and the HbA1c takes precedence as your spot measurement result will vary a lot over the day.

there are things you can do if you are concerned, but there is no particular need to be concerned.
Click to expand...
Thank you! I will be going back in six weeks for another blood test anyway, so I'll be curious to see how it changes.
 
How do you think it might change?
is there anything you plan on doing over the next six weeks that may have an effect?
 
Chris24Main said:
How do you think it might change?
is there anything you plan on doing over the next six weeks that may have an effect?
Click to expand...
I don't know how it might change – I am wondering how much it will fluctuate do to randomness or unknown factors. Unrelatedly, my B12 is low, so I'm hoping that with supplements and a little more animal protein in my diet that will be back to normal as well. Otherwise I don't have any plans to change anything because it sounds like things are fine (I finally heard from my doctor, who was not concerned about possible pre-diabetes.)
 
Excellent - and glad that you got some feedback from your doctor. Hope it goes well in six weeks (and I was really just curious what was in your mind..)
 
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