• Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
  • We seem to be having technical difficulties with new user accounts. If you are trying to register please check your Spam or Junk folder for your confirmation email. If you still haven't received a confirmation email, please reach out to our support inbox: support.forum@diabetes.org.uk

glucose monitors

I

indigorblue

Member
Pronouns
She/Her
ok might sound like a stupid question but I'm still fairly new to this! when your results are displayed on the monitor eg 6.4
what is that number? is that a % of glucose in my blood? (like the % number that comes back with your HbA1c results)
 
indigorblue said:
ok might sound like a stupid question but I'm still fairly new to this! when your results are displayed on the monitor eg 6.4
what is that number? is that a % of glucose in my blood? (like the % number that comes back with your HbA1c results)
Click to expand...
It is mmol/l and is giving you your blood glucose at that moment in time. Your HbA1C is in mmol/mol (or in old money %) and is an average over the previous 3 months.
 
Leadinglights said:
It is mmol/l and is giving you your blood glucose at that moment in time. Your HbA1C is in mmol/mol (or in old money %) and is an average over the previous 3 months.
Click to expand...
hi thanks leadinglights but really more wondering what the eg 6.4 is a measure of is it a %? mmo/l take it that is per litre
just wondered if there was a link between the old money result HbA1c on the meter . I do appreciate that is an average
and the meter is an actual but is it a similar measure. hope that makes some kind of sense 🙂
 
indigorblue said:
hi thanks leadinglights but really more wondering what the eg 6.4 is a measure of is it a %? mmo/l take it that is per litre
just wondered if there was a link between the old money result HbA1c on the meter . I do appreciate that is an average
and the meter is an actual but is it a similar measure. hope that makes some kind of sense 🙂
Click to expand...
There's no direct correlation between BG meters and HbA1c. They're in different units. The 6.4 isn't a percentage, it's millimoles per litre.
 
indigorblue said:
hi thanks leadinglights but really more wondering what the eg 6.4 is a measure of is it a %? mmo/l take it that is per litre
just wondered if there was a link between the old money result HbA1c on the meter . I do appreciate that is an average
and the meter is an actual but is it a similar measure. hope that makes some kind of sense 🙂
Click to expand...
There is only a loose connection as they measure something different, but the higher your HbA1C then the higher spot glucose finger prick tests are likely to be. There is no direct conversion between the two.
If you have been given your HbA1C result in % which is the old units, it was changed quite a long time ago then that can be converted to mmol/mol which is the current units, when anything over 47mmol/mol is a diabetes diagnosis. (the % equivalent I thing is 6.5%) NOTE this is not the same as 6.5mmol/l.
That is partly why the units were changed to avoid confusion with HbA1C result and those from a monitor.
 
Leadinglights said:
There is only a loose connection as they measure something different, but the higher your HbA1C then the higher spot glucose finger prick tests are likely to be. There is no direct conversion between the two.
If you have been given your HbA1C result in % which is the old units, it was changed quite a long time ago then that can be converted to mmol/mol which is the current units, when anything over 47mmol/mol is a diabetes diagnosis. (the % equivalent I thing is 6.5%) NOTE this is not the same as 6.5mmol/l.
That is partly why the units were changed to avoid confusion with HbA1C result and those from a monitor.
Click to expand...
that's a shame . but thanks
 
Its a bit like your car.... your speedometer and your MPG both tell you how fast you are driving.

One, your speedometer, dodges about a lot and tells you how far over (or under) the speed limit you are driving at any instant and gives you a good idea about how fast you drive. The other, your MPG also gives you a good idea about how fast you drive but you only see it when you come to fill your tank. The more fuel you need, the heavier has been your right foot. You cannot predict one from the other but you know if you habitually break speed limits, your MPG will be down.

With blood glucose, higher meter readings will give a higher Hba1c but the principal is the same.

That said....as a very broad rule of thumb, if you can keep your fingerprick readings below 10 with a 90 day average below 8 then it is likely that you will have an HbA1c below the diagnosis limit of 48. At least that is what my data shows for me.
 
indigorblue said:
if there was a link between the old money result HbA1c on the meter
Click to expand...

No - and that was one of the reasons why the units were changed. Because there was otfen a confusion between

6.4% HbA1c
(the percentage of glycosylated red blood cells in your bloodstream, that glucose had ‘stuck to’ over the past 3-4 months)

And

6.4mmol/L (millimoles per litre) the amount of glucose dissolved in your bloodstream at that moment in time.

There’s a thread that describes the various different measures, and what they mean here which may give you a bit more background:
P

Thread 'Blood glucose numbers - what do they mean?'

Can someone explain the numbers system to measure blood sugar levels please?
  • Like
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top