the HbA1c blood test

June 1^st 2011 is the day when the HbA1c blood test results will finally change. This test is for a blood sample that is sent to a laboratory for analysis. It looks at the situation over a number of months. Do not get confused with the finger prick test that tells the user the situation at that time only. Up to this June the results have been expressed as a percentage using the DCCT (Diabetes Control and Complications Trial) method but both results have been reported. From June the results will only be expressed as the IFCC (International Federation of Clinical Chemistry) reference method of mmol/mol.

Diabetes UK has kindly allowed us to see their information page which has a chart of old and new figures and how they relate. It also has a small programme at the bottom of the page were you can input the old values and get the new value. There are also a number of extra links to information pages that may be useful.

In the past a number of research papers have quoted HbA1c figures. These were in the old format but with this facility it is now possible to convert them to the new figures. To go to the Diabetes UK page click on Here.

 Stop press

It has been anounced that the change over date is to be 1st October 2011.

This is to cause less confusion with the numbers.