A1c monitors

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Hello,

Seen some info about these before. Don't think I would use one. Not sure how good value $29.99 (?19.17) is for 2 tests, especially when I'm at the diabetic clinic 4 times a year and get it done there for free.

NiVZ
 
Personally I can?t see this giving you a 3 month accrete record, it?s much the same as testing your BS on a daily basis, a bit like a car MOT, your BS level is measured at that point in time. When this is done at the clinic the blood has to be taken from a vain and they use a fair amount compared to a pin prick this is because the sugar in your blood sticks to the red blood cells and these live for around 3 months and this is how they get the reading for that period, maybe one of functions of this reader will show you your average reading over a period of time, I enter all my readings into a very simple spread sheet and not only does that give me my average on a day to day month to month basis but also since I started recording my BS level when I was diagnosed, I also get a very pretty graph showing me all the ups and downs.
 
At lots of clinics now they use a machine that gets blood from a finger prick test. The reason i'd be interested in this is because i'm terrified of intravenous blood tests, since they've mucked it up so many times at the hospital.
 
I've never had an intravenous HbA1c test. Mine is always collected from my ear lobe.

The HbA1C test gives a very accurate picture of the last 2-3 months by measuring the 'glycosylated haemoglobin' or how much glucose molecules have attached themselves to your bloods haemoglobin. Have a look at the picture below. The red ball is the haemoglobin, and the small blue balls are the glucose molecules.

RedBloodCell1.jpg


And there is a good explanation here:

http://medweb.bham.ac.uk/easdec/prevention/what_is_the_hba1c.htm

NiVZ
 
Since I can have one every 3-6 months as I request then i wouldn't buy one, but might be useful for those who can't get access as often as needed.
 
Ok but the readings will be different in Capillary blood supplies than Vascular and the more cells they can read the more accurate the result. I would rather have a lab test for me every 3 months than rely on what at the end of the day is a glucose reader. I still can?t get my head around if these things are so accurate why the NHS doesn?t use them it would save a fortune as there would be no need to have blood taken and sent off to the lab for testing, we could all do it ourselves. I fully understand how it all works but sorry not convinced one tiny pin prick can give you a good reading over 3 months, I?m betting that if you took lets say 10 readings over 2 days each one would be different. However I may be talking utter rubbish 😱):D
 
Lots of hospitals do use the capiliary machines for the A1c results. Actually i think it's more expensive to be done that way than to get lab readings as my local clinic prefers pateints to get a lab one done prior to appointment.

You can get a different lab A1c aswell. when i wa sin hospital about 18 months ago, an A1c was requested on admission and then my next morning bloods by mistake, and one was 5.8, one was 5.9. Not sure how this would compare to the differences seen in this machine though.
 
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