Diabetes Tests: Are They Effective or Ineffective?
Before we can go into the effectiveness of diabetes testing, we must understand what diabetes is. Diabetes is our body’s way of providing growth and energy. The foods we eat get broken down into glucose, which our body uses as fuel. Glucose enters our bloodstream where it is then utilized for growth and energy. The pancreas produces a hormone called insulin. In order for our cells to use glucose, our blood requires the insulin.
If the pancreas does not produce the proper amount of insulin, or if our cells do not properly utilize it, this is when diabetes develops. Insulin regulates the blood sugar levels.
Diabetes, if untreated can prove to be life-threatening or may cause some other serious effects. It should be tested as and when you find any symptoms. There are various tests known worldwide to diagnose diabetes and ruling it out. One such test is sugar level test. This test requires a pinch of blood to measure the level of glucose in the blood. In this test, you will be asked to avoid anything eatable or liquid at least up to 8 hours before the test.
But unfortunately, these tests are not found to be accurate for patients who are already on dialysis. For the hemodialysis patients, the hemoglobin test doesn’t prove to be a true glucose control test. Although controlling glucose level is necessary as the high level hardens the arteries thereby leading to more kidney diseases, heart attack, stroke, nerve damage and blindness. In the process of hemodialysis, blood is passed through the artificial kidney machine for cleansing which is used in the case of kidney failure. There is one more test known as peritoneal dialysis often conducted at home in which fluid is passed in to the abdomen. The diabetic dialysis patients have very high blood sugar level and hence A1C test may not prove to be accurate for them.
In the United States alone, it is possible that nearly 200,000 hemodialysis patients, using this testing procedure may not be getting the proper care to control their blood sugar levels. Though this test was once considered the “gold standard”, there are issues with the accuracy of the test. Regardless of those issues, this test is still helpful in the care of diabetes patients.
To measure the hemoglobin percentage, the A1C test is most helpful because it reacts to the glucose. Reflected by this test is the previous 120 days of controlled blood sugar. The glycated-albumin test measures the amount of blood sugar that reacts with albumin, which is a protein in the plasma. Reflected by this test is only the past twenty-one (21) to thirty (30) days of controlled blood sugar. More recent sugar levels could also be monitored. The drawback to this test as opposed to the A1C test was that it brought about higher blood sugar levels and glycated-albumin levels for hemodialysis patients compared to those patients without kidney failure. The difference stems from the medications that hemodialysis patients receive. These medications stimulate the production of the red blood cells, which is what the A1C test depends on.
However, it has not been proven how effective the glycated-albumin test is for patients that have kidney failure, but are not yet on dialysis. Nor has the effectiveness been proven for those patients on peritoneal dialysis.
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