Diabetes diagnostic test recommended as standard (CNN)

By Elizabeth Landau
CNN

(CNN) -- A diabetes test that measures a person's average blood glucose control over the preceding two to three months is being recommended as the new diagnostic tool for the condition.

A committee of international experts recommended the test, called the the A1C assay, at the American Diabetes Association's 69th Scientific Sessions over the weekend. The report could instigate a change in the way diabetes is diagnosed, the American Diabetes Association said.

The A1C assay, which has been used for nearly 30 years to determine how well a patient controls diabetes, is a more stable, reliable diagnostic tool than the techniques currently in use, the authors of the report said.

"This committee that I chaired is recommending that this be used as widely as possible to diagnose diabetes instead of the blood sugar test," said Dr. David Nathan, director of the Diabetes Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and chairman of the committee.

The A1C test, which consists of a simple blood test, is also more convenient than the two tests commonly used for diabetes -- the fasting plasma glucose and the oral glucose tolerance test -- the authors said.
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more: http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/06/08/diabetes.screening.a1c/index.html

My wife's doctor last Friday had her get that A1C blood test, and we didnt know what it was about.