Blog Entries With Tag: HbA1c

Blog: Anna's Blog

From: FatCatAnna

Are you ready? HbA1c will soon be shown differently!

Posted: Sep 29, 2011

This was supposed to go through in the UK back in June 2011 but it was held off until October 1st - which is in a few days. What is different about the new system? The "old" percentage for our HBA1c values was known as the DCCT (Diabetes Control and Complications Trial) units. Now, the new mmols/mol values will be known as the IFCC (International Federation of Clinical Chemistry) units.

It's recommended that people with diabetes try to keep their HbA1c levels below 48 mmols/mol (under the new units) - which is 6.5%.

So, using the converter found at Diabetes.co.uk - my 6% HBA1c will now be shown as 42.0767 (see picture below). When first converting my usual percentage HBA1c I just about flipped at the number - but then realissed - I was okay.

I know with living in Canada, where we went from Imperial measurements to Metric in the 1970's - it's just something we all went along with (not everyone mind you even today). The same would be for me here - if Canada goes this route to IFCC. Just like when we went from mg/dl to mmol/l (aka the "World" Standard) for our blood glucose monitoring (though still USA and a few other countries still use the mg/dl readings for blood sugar readings). The good thing out of all of this - I can relate to both and tend to show both units when posting my blood sugars as a courtesy.

From an online publication by NGSP (National Glycohemoglobin Standardization Program) that I came across from 2010 - it also states -

"Officially, there is worldwide consensus that HbA1c should be reported in both NGSP (%) and IFCC (mmol/mol) units along with eAG (in either mmol/L or mg/dL). However, the decision on what to report is actually being made country by country. In the US, reporting NGSP % HbA1c along with eAG has been recommended by the ADA and the AACC. Some other countries have also decided, most will report IFCC and NGSP and some will switch to IFCC only in two years. Although the world will again be reporting different numbers, results will be traceable to IFCC numbers as well as to clinical data through linear equations that are carefully monitored. The ADA, IDF, EASD, and ISPAD as well as other member associations in different countries currently provide patient care guidelines that relate directly to NGSP (DCCT/UKPDS) numbers. These will need to be updated to include both NGSP and IFCC numbers."

If you live in the UK or any other country that is going this route for recording your HBA1c - how do you feel about it?

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Tags: HBA1c (1) NGSP (1) Diabetes.co.uk (1) converter (1) IFCC (1) DCCT (1) blood sugar (1)

Blog: body1- Treatment for Type II Diabetes

From: ppatel24

Honey

Posted: Jun 15, 2011

Generally, doctors advise patients of Type II diabetes to stay away from sugars. However, there is a sweet product that can be used to treat diabetics instead of harming them. This is special sweetener is Honey! Honey has the least impact on blood sugar from all the sweeteners. An hour to an hour and half after honey consumption, blood sugar level result lower as much as by 60 to 100mg/dl. Natural honey has a glycemic index (GI) of 30. The low GI portrays that the carbohydrates in honey break down gradually and therefore releases glucose slower. On the other hand, processed honey has a glycemic index of 75, which means that the carbohydrates break down quicker during digestion and release glucose rapidly.
Honey also lowers glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), which is a type of hemoglobin measured to identify the average plasma glucose concentration. The normal range of the HbA1c test in people without diabetes is between 4% and 6%. People with diabetes have a goal of keeping their HbA1c test score lower than 7%. HbA1c levels can decrease to about 2-4% after honey is consumed. In January 2008, the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center stated that honey improves blood sugar control and insulin sensitivity compared to other sweeteners.
How much honey can be consumed on a daily basis by diabetics? About three to five tablespoons a day is recommended. The percentage of total calories provided by sugars should not exceed 10%. Since one tablespoon of honey contains 60 calories, one would be gaining 180 to 360 calories a day from honey, which is sufficient. Therefore, replacing sugars with honey in the diet should be the first treatment advised to Type II diabetics.

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Tags: HbA1c (1) glycosylated hemoglobin (1) blood sugar (1) glycemic index (1) GI (1) Type 2 (1) sugar (1) unprocessed (1) maple syrup (1) honey (1)

Blog: Anna's Blog

From: FatCatAnna

Captain “Crusty” Underpants and musings of a cold diabetic

Posted: Jan 24, 2011

Today is one of the coldest days we've had this winter. Temperatures today with the wind chill factored in ... -42C / -42F (when it gets this cold - Celsius/Fahrenheit read the same - I don't have to calculate for my American readers). In the province of Quebec that I live in, we are being asked to reduce our power consumption, by keeping our houses heated abit lower (mine is at 17C / 62F) - along with not using major appliances. During these types of temperatures, I conserve power due to being on a special Hydro plan - where we pay less for power usage when the temperatures are normal, but when the climate dips between -12C to -15C we pay almost triple the amount per kWh. It does work out cheaper in the end, since we only usually have no more than a week of these types of "extreme" coolness. Let's just say, for those of us who have this hydro plan, the dishes stack up in dishwasher, the laundry doesn't get done, and we are even more bundled up in warm clothing than normal. Welcome to Quebec – home of Captain Crusty Underpants

Of course, I'm feeling slightly lazy today (okay – I feel like this most days during winter months), despite having to do abit of research work today. For some reason, the coolness makes me just want to go into a little cocoon world of warmth and be a slug. I've been going to one of my cats to warm my finger tips on him, lazy bugger; he's all curled up in a ball sleeping away as if no care in the world. Next life, I come back as a cat.

Of course, this isn't conducive to my goal of being more active this year (don't I say this every year in the month of January?). Sadly, since my last visit 6 months ago to my endocrinologist, who I saw last week, my weight has increased by 10 pounds. I knew something was up, since my jeans seemed tighter in the midriff and leg area. Yes, have been reducing my food intake, but it doesn't help that I'm going through the peri-menopause time of my life. My body just wants to keep all the comfy fat to itself, though I have to admit, for infusion sets in the stomach, its perfect real estate. That's a bad excuse though.

So, today, I'm going to either peddle on my bike inside or do a combination of weight lifting/cardio during my lunch break. I've got basically a home gym due to my husband being a workout freak after he’d lost about 50 pounds by eating sensibly/exercising about 20 years ago. I just don't use it that often - and try to dust it off from time to time. Again, horrible excuse for avoiding doing exercise - but I'm sure I'm not alone with these thoughts.

The one good thing with my visit to the endocrinologist - my HbA1C was 6% - so I'm happy with that. It's not the results of having lows; it's all to do with staying on a pretty even level for blood sugars (BG's). I hate bouncing low then high radically - it's hard on the body.

Also, a low TC/HDL-C reading in my blood work which when researching what this meant (and freaking me out due to a study indicate older patients in mid-life developing memory loss) – is nothing to be worried about according to my endocrinologist. He says it’s a good thing and not to be worried, especially with my cholesterol total being within a good range. I am still going to inquire with my GP next time I see her – just to make sure I have two opinions on this – since the study did make me worried.

Off to save the world!!!!