Powered By
@A DiabetesTeam Member that sounds about right - in 1993 a big study (DCCT) which was a major thing in the Diabetes world, recommended standardizing A1C testing amongst the labs that were doing it
In Canada between 1993 and 2013 it could only be used to monitor patients that had been diagnosed using a different test (FBS or OGTT), not diagnose a new case
It is a very general test and can tell you if there is a problem (or not) but gives no clue as to the source of the blood sugar causing the problem which leads to probably a least some number of patients prescribed Metformin (because of elevated A1C) when in fact they may just have massive insulin resistance and are eating way too many carbs and metformin does Zip to deal with that and artifically lowers their FBS (which wasn't the problem) which brings down the average (A1C) while leaving the "highs from eating" doing damage hidden by an acceptable A1C
It's a great test but just maybe we should still be doing a Fasting Blood Sugar Test at the Lab once in a while as well, just to see how much our FBS is actually effecting our A1C number (or not)
I remember the time before A1C testing, which was only adopted as the standard back in 2000 (26 years ago is really not that long ago)
Before that it was either a fasting blood test to measure Fasting Blood Sugar or a urine test to detect sugar levels at a lab "once in a while" - you didn't know daily numbers
The first "meters" came out sometime around 1980 and they needed a massive "drop" of blood and before that there were these test strips that you would dip in a bit of collected urine and they would change colour depending on the concentration of sugar in your blood, matched against a key chart where yellow was normal and darker shades of green or blue if your sugar was "high", but you didn't get a "reading" like we get today
So, somehow, diabetics managed without "knowing" that their BG was 7.0 or 126 and they dosed insulin with it - we get upset if two different meters give us slightly different readings - I guess we are spoiled and doctors are relieved they don't have to taste your urine to tell if your sugar levels are high 😁
Urine ! I think my first A1c was around 1992. Guess my Doc was ahead of the standard.
@A DiabetesTeam Member
Oh yeah. I'm sure the doctors are relieved on not having to do a taste test😂
I took care of a lady on insulin a long time ago. I remember having to check her sugar with a dip stick. She died from a cardiovascular event.
We are probably spoiled 😆
Great question — and the history here is genuinely fascinating! Long before blood tests existed, doctors relied on some pretty creative (and let's say, *dedicated*) methods to detect diabetes.
As far back as 1500 B.C.E., ancient Egyptians noticed a condition that caused excessive urination. Indian physicians later discovered Show Full Answer
Join
Your Privacy Choices
