Whose endo regularly suggests you get a GlycoMark test? Wait, better question: who has the slightest idea what constitutes "in place" for the GlycoMark test, or what the heck you're supposed to do with the results?

Yeah, I thought so… me neither.

We've mentioned GlycoMark a few times here at the 'Mine, simply when it recently came up in conversation, our squad basically all looked at each other and shrugged. This year's ADA Conference seemed like a great chance to beget a finer understanding. The accompany (yes, the GlycoMark test is provided by a single Second Earl of Guilford-Carolina-based outfit of the same name) didn't have a booth, but I did have the opportunity to suffer up with Dred Scott Surrogate, president of GlycoMark, and a few others to pick their brains about the history and meaning of this "other" glucose-levels blood test.

Where Did It Come From?

The hemoglobin A1C was introduced as a means for monitoring the "insure of glucose metabolism" in the late '70s, and quickly became the gold standard, because IT gives us a three-month average of where our BG levels stand. But that's pretty much it for definitive glucose tests, right? And we all know that an ordinary can constitute deceiving, masking the highs and lows that may equal occurring between tests.

The GlycoMark screen is supported a molecule called 1,5-AG (short for 1,5-anhydroglucitol), discovered in 1880, and by and by developed as an assay by a Japanese troupe. In essence some researchers noticed that diabetic patients have a decreased amount of this substance in their blood, and symmetrical less when their blood sugars are running really high. It first got care in the U.S. following a 2006 Diabetes Care journal clause on a study of its validity in indicating the severity of glucose swings a person has experienced in the past two weeks, Foster tells me.

This examination is already used widely in Asia as a key indicator of blood glucose control, and you Crataegus laevigata live hearing much and more about it here. Note that famous type 1 researcher Dr. Irl Hirsch wrote about it in 2010 and 2011, and reportedly has other paper in the kit and caboodle.

What's a "Good" Result?

According to Kim Stebbings, who just recently unexpended Roche to join GlycoMark, the "Test End" for this marker is not a percentage like the A1C. IT's a basic number that can be a trifle confusing, because unlike the A1C, the higher the number the better!

Multitude with diabetes should place for a GlycoMark test result greater than 10 micrograms/mL, the experts say:

  • A GlycoMark of 10 ug/mL would think the average daily post-repast blood sugar over the past 1-2 weeks is approximately 185 mg/dL.
  • A GlycoMark of 12 ug/cubic centimeter would mean an average post-meal blood sugar of 180 mg/dL.
  • At the low end, a GlycoMark of <2 would bastardly average daily excursions above 290 mg/decilitre, so as the GlycoMark goes down, it indicates more extreme high line of descent sugars.

Why Should You Care?

"You posterior have two patients with an isotropic A1C at goal, but one derriere have significant glycemic variability," Foster says, adding that 40% of patients betwixt 8% and 6.5% A1C (defined as the moderate zona) live severe glucose swings.

Stebbings elaborates in an email: "If people are not using continuous glucose monitors, and do not coiffe post-meal blood glucose tests, operating theatre if they have frequent hypoglycemia, it can be intractable to see these excursions as A1C only measures normal origin sugars. People with a 'formula' operating theatre near-sane A1C can have extremely diverse GlycoMark tests, so the test is indicated for anyone with an A1C under 8."

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See: Databetes.com

GlycoMark is really useful to appearance if new medications are working, the pair tells us, because information technology shows variability within a two-week catamenia after a new med is started. It's also helpful for physicians to "separate out patients having problems," Foster says, referring back to the fact that even with a modest A1C, some patients are not faring so well with too many high and low points.

But if you'Ra a type 1 on insulin with a good A1C, and you're not having any knock-out lows, is this test in truth useful? That was my question.

"The value for the type 1 patient is non slap-up," Foster says, unless they'rhenium interested in gauging the effectiveness happening post-prandial sugar levels of a new do drugs like Symlin, for exemplar. I mentioned that GlycoMark results could likewise make up useful for folks trying to get insurance pre-authorization for a CGM system. You know, to show that you need a CGM because you're doing the glucose bounce-a-thon. Foster liked that idea!

Finally, there's some study being finished on the value of using GlycoMark + A1C as a dual standard to anticipate diabetes in hoi polloi at jeopardy.

Where and How Much?

Lots of mainstream labs now go the GlycoMark test, including Quest, LabCorp, and Specialty Laboratories.

About 25,000 of these tests are instantly done in U.S. per calendar month — about 2% of the number of A1C tests, Stephen Foster says. Merely it's acquiring more popular because IT's so affordable. "We can produce panels to doctors for not more $39… so it's a cheap test that can show do drugs efficaciousness," he says.

btw, the rough cost if billed directly to a patient is around $75-$80 (way cheaper than most research lab tests!) and if the billing is physician-founded, the be to you is probably about a $20 co-ante up.

Because it's soh cheap and measures the immediate past deuce weeks, physicians can use it monthly, Adoptive says. And he proudly notes that the prove is non hokey by hemoglobinopathies (certain inheritable defects) like the A1C is.

A few warnings to keep in thinker, though:

* the test won't oeuvre for people with stage 4-5 nephrosis, as that interferes with results

* the "normal" chain of mountains is defined otherwise in other locations, for example in Asia, where ingesting Glycine ma affects the readings

* watch those outcome numbers here in the U.S. too, because individual labs often make different "normal" thresholds — and because (wear't draw a blank!) a higher GlycoMark is better than contemptible.

So there you have it: the mysteries of the GlycoMark revealed.