A1C-NOW

This is a post concerning an A1C test and instruction on using the A1CNow product….not to be confused with OI812 Test…they are very different. … sorry… I had to inject a little humor…ok…it was very little. *HA*

This is a “GUEST POST” by Brian Seib.  (what happened to the rule … “i” before “e” except after “C” ? )  I want to thank Brian for putting this together.

This is a great post BECAUSE it explains an A1C test AND it provides evidence as to what can be accomplished with a PERSISTENT PALEO MEAL PLAN!!!!   Ok…I’ll shut up now… :)

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Well I decided to buy a home A1C test kit.

I got home and read the quick start guide, the full instructions and watched the DVD.  The instructions are very clear and the test itself is no more complicated than using my blood glucose meter.

All you do is wash your hands.  Lance your finger to extract a drop of blood (just a tiny bit more than you would need for a blood glucose check).  Then fill the vial on the left side of the image.  Then you insert the vial in the shaker (second from left in the above picture) and shake for 5 seconds.  Now you remove the cartridge from it’s pouch. And insert it into the meter.  The meter will turn on and you will see “QCOK” for Quality Control OK.

Then you remove the clear base from the shaker and gently apply the plunger to the cartridge for a few seconds until you see the meter display “RUN”.  Now you play the waiting game.  Five minutes does not seem like a long time, but it DRAGS on when you’re waiting on an A1C result.

The meter will count down to zero and flash “01TL” and your A1C result will be displayed for sixty minutes then turn off automatically.

5.3 – WOW!  I was THRILLED!  That is uh . . . “NORMAL”!  Not “atta-boy, that’s a good Diabetic” normal, but “BACK THE TRUCK UP, Call the Mayor because Brian wants a parade”  – – NORMAL!!!

The Box states that it is “Lab Accurate”… uh huh ok.

The website provides links to this study:  Diabetes Technology Society Abstract

The Website also claims that for Fingertip A1C Testing:

“The results showed that the accuracy of A1CNow+, with fingerstick samples was, on average, 99%. This means that, on average, a true 7 %A1C could read approximately 6.9 %A1C. An individual A1CNow+ result may differ by as much as -1.0 %A1C to +0.8 %A1C from the true result. This represents the 95% confidence limits of a Bland-Altman plot.”

So IF I understand, my reading of 5.3 could be as low as 4.5 or as high as 6.3.  Seems like a wide range, but still not too bad.

So I thought I’d compare my previous lab given A1C Results, Average Blood glucose derived from those lab results, and my three month average blood glucose from my daily testing.

DATE             A1C                AVG BG from A1C               90 Day AVG BG from Meter

9/23/2009        14.0                 355                                          NA

12/22/2009      6.4                   137                                          120

3/23/2010        6.2                   131                                          103

6/3/2010          5.3 (@ Home) NA                                          102

Now for some background I test my blood glucose an average of six times a day.

Fasting, before all meals, two hour post all meals.  I used to test every two hours of my waking day.  I’ve slowed down to keep my fingertips from going raw.

Comparing my metered 90 day averages to the A1C results I believe my home test results were most likely on the low side.  I don’t think there is enough of a difference in my 90 day metered averages from 3/23 to 6/3 to quantify an A1C drop of 0.9.

I could be wrong of course.  I’d always attributed the difference in my metered averages and the Average blood glucose derived from A1C to the time I sleep and do not test.

I will go in for ‘official labs’ in a couple weeks.  I will take the second home test in the Bayer kit before I head to the lab and post both results for comparison.

Overall I think the Bayer A1CNow kit is good and worth the $15.00 per test for a rough idea of how I’m doing between lab visits.

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Summary:

THANKS to Brian for explaining the A1C test …. an important diabetic tools.

CONGRATULATIONS for a FANTASTIC result!!!!

and lastly….THANKS FOR SHARING IT WITH THE REST OF US!!!! WOO HOO!!!! :)