March 13, 2001
Blood Tests and Insulin Injections
Question from Virginia, USA:
What are the highest and lowest documented A1c’s ever?
Answer:
25.8% is the all-time highest and 3.9% is the all-time lowest at my office.
SB
Additional comments from Dr. Matthew Brown:
I’ve seen a 21%.
MSB
[Editor’s comment: On the high side, I’ve seen a 35%, but it was “cheating” — the young woman had both out-of-control diabetes and a form of hemoglobinopathy which caused the test to register high from each of these disorders! (Current assays are more specific, and less likely to be influenced by factors such as abnormal hemoglobins.) And on the low side, I’ve seen a 3.5%, but it was “cheating” also — the patient was on a drug that causes destruction of red blood cells, thus decreasing the lifespan of the average red blood cells, thus reducing the A1c value.
WWQ]
