HbA1c: Clinical Utility and Limitations in the Diagnosis of Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

In the UK the increasing incidence of diabetes mellitus brings ever greater demands for simple yet reliable diagnosis. The chronic hyperglycaemia associated with diabetes leads to long-term complications particularly involving the eyes, heart, kidneys, nerves and blood vessels, therefore early diagnosis will help to prevent such phenomena. For many years, the most widely-accepted diagnostic tests have relied on the measurement of blood glucose, either using fasting plasma glucose (FPG) or the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT).1 Recently, however, glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) has been endorsed for the purpose of diagnosis, and its use is becoming increasingly prevalent.