How to Increase Laboratory Accuracy with Direct HbA1c Testing !

HbA1c:

Diabetes is a global epidemic affecting in the region of 425 million people according to the International Diabetes Federation. Worryingly, this figure is on the rise with forecasts suggesting diabetes will affect up to 629 million people globally by 2045. Such a dramatic increase highlights the fundamental need for better disease management. When we look at the worldwide prevalence of diabetes, the United States is one of the most prominent countries affected.

HbA1c - an important biomarker for diabetes management and control !

HbA1c, also known as hemoglobin A1c or glycated hemoglobin, is an important blood test used to determine how well diabetes is being controlled. It develops when hemoglobin, a protein within the red blood cells that carries oxygen throughout the body, joins with glucose in the blood, becoming “glycated.” The concentration of HbA1c in the blood of diabetic patients increases with rising blood glucose levels and is representative of the mean blood glucose level over the preceding six to eight weeks. HbA1c can therefore be described as a long-term indicator of diabetic control, unlike blood glucose which is only a short-term indicator of diabetic control. It is recommended that HbA1c levels are monitored every three to four months.

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Urinalysis Quality Control at the Point-of-Care !

Clinical Issues

The goal of any clinical diagnostic test procedure is to provide critical information in a timely manner so that appropriate actions may be taken, ultimately improving patient outcomes. Point-of-care testing (POCT) is a term that has come to describe a multitude of rapid medical tests that can be performed at or near the site of patient care. The most compelling benefit of these tests is that, as opposed to having to wait hours or days for results to arrive from an outside laboratory, clinicians can obtain the results immediately, allowing for clinical management decisions to be made while the patient is still at the care facility. While the implementation of rapid diagnostic tests dates back to ancient history (sweet-tasting urine was once commonly used to diagnose diabetes mellitus), it was not until the 1950s that these rapid diagnostic methods gained any real predictive value. Today, the popularity and demand for POCT are increasing rapidly. TriMark Publications estimates that the global market for POCT was $14.5 billion in 2016, and is expected to grow by seven percent over the next five years.

Urinalysis dipsticks at the point-of-care:

Urinalysis using multi-analyte dipsticks is a point-of-care test performed at any hospital, clinical laboratory, doctor’s office, health clinic, and nursing facility. Various iterations of these tests have existed for decades, and they continue to be among the most commonly performed tests of any kind. Urinalysis dipsticks contain discrete reagent pads to semi-quantitatively test for the presence of bilirubin, blood, creatinine, glucose, ketones, leukocytes, nitrite, pH, protein, specific gravity, and urobilinogen in a urine sample.

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Source: MedicalLaboratoryObserver

Differences between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes.

Diabetes, or diabetes mellitus (DM), is a metabolic disorder in which the body cannot properly store and use sugar.

It affects the body's ability to use glucose, a type of sugar found in the blood, as fuel. This happens because the body does not produce enough insulin, or the cells do not correctly respond to insulin to use glucose as energy.

Insulin is a type of hormone produced by the pancreas to regulate how blood sugar becomes energy. An imbalance of insulin or resistance to insulin causes diabetes.

Diabetes is linked to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, vision loss, neurological conditions, and damage to blood vessels and organs.

There is type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes. They have different causes and risk factors, and different lines of treatment.

This article will compare the similarities and differences of types 1 and 2 diabetes.

People with type 1 diabetes will require supplemental insulin on an

ongoing basis. People with type 2 will likely only need this for the later

stages of the condition. A healthcare specialist will be able to test

a patient for diabetes, even if type 2 diabetes shows no symptoms.

Read more: Differences between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes.

Source: MedicalNewsToday

I Want to be a Medical Lab Technologist. What will my Salary be?

The job: Medical laboratory technologist

The role: From throat swabs to cancer screens, blood tests to DNA tests, Canadians generate over 440 million medical test results a year, which are conducted by medical laboratory technologists (MLTs).

“We would have been there the day you were born to test you for certain disorders as a baby, and you would have never known,” says Christine Nielsen, the chief executive officer of the Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science in Hamilton . “As a healthy adult, when your doctor sends you off for lab tests and just wants to see what your glucose [level] is, your specimen goes through our people.”

Read more: I Want to be a Medical Lab Technologist. What will my Salary be?

National Microbiology Lab technician, Lillian Mendoza, processes patient samples for the measles

virus and genotyping in Winnipeg Manitoba, February 19, 2015.

Source: theglobeandmail

Blood Test Uncovers Undiagnosed Diabetes In Hospital Patients

Hyperglycemia is a frequent finding that can be related to physiologic stress, illness and medications, including steroids and vasopressors and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) correlates with the average blood glucose level over the previous eight to 12 weeks.

Screening of HbA1c levels plays an important role in the diagnosis and management of diabetes mellitus in the outpatient setting but remains underused in the evaluation of hyperglycemia with undiagnosed diabetes in the inpatient setting.

Read more:   Blood Test Uncovers Undiagnosed Diabetes In Hospital Patients

A point-of-care glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C) analyzer.

Source: labmedica