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August 3, 2005

A1c (Glycohemoglobin, HgbA1c), Diagnosis and Symptoms

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Question from Abington, Pennsylvania, USA:

My seven year old son has been complaining of stomach pain after eating. He wet his bed about three or four times over the past few months, something he had never done before. He is very anxious and fearful. He is often fatigued and has started taking naps again. He is hungry, but can’t finish his food because of his need to go to the bathroom or because his stomach hurts. We saw the pediatrician, who ran blood work for gastrointestinal disease and various other things. His non-fasting glucose was 139 mg/dl [7.7 mmol/L], one hour after eating an apple. They dipped his urine at the doctor’s office and said it was okay. He gets angry very quickly sometimes and cries a lot. The doctor is ordering an A1c test for him. Will that tell us if he is diabetic? His grandmother is diabetic and he has an uncle with type 1.

Answer:

From: DTeam Staff

I don’t see any reasonable anamnestic or clinical finding in your son’s picture that might be linked anyway to diabetes or even pre-diabetes. An A1c is not helpful towards this diagnosis. More important is a fasting blood sugar level and your son’s non-fasting glucose of 139 mg/dl [7.7 mmol/L] was normal. In order to erase any doubt, you might want to ask your doctor to perform an autoantibodies test.

MS

[Editor’s comment: See a previous question in which diagnosing diabetes is discussed.

BH]