I am a 57 year old male who recently had an A1c result of 6.8% (normal: 6.0%) so my doctor put me on Glucophage. Do you concur with the treatment?

The hemoglobin A1c is not the best test to screen for diabetes. However, since it was elevated, it most likely represents elevated blood sugars.

Glucophage [metformin] is a reasonable medication to use. The contraindications to its use include liver failure, depressed kidney function, and severe heart failure. It is fairly well tolerated, otherwise.

I would recommend that you receive education in the area of diabetes self-care skills. This includes nutritional information, the ability to check home blood sugars, and general information about the disease. If you have not received this, contact your physician or local hospital for the nearest diabetes education unit.

JTL

[Editor’s comment: There’s no information from the writer to indicate whether he had elevated blood sugar levels, normal blood sugar levels, or no blood sugar testing. Testing for diabetes must include blood sugar levels performed by a medical laboratory. See Classification and Diagnosis of Diabetes for further information.

Occasionally, lab blood sugar testing might be normal in an early case of diabetes, repeat blood sugar testing at the same or a different time, or performing a glucose tolerance test, might be appropriate if there is a high suspicion of diabetes despite normal initial testing, as in this case.

WWQ]