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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Washington, DC, July 23, 2010 For years, clinicians have used the hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) test to reliably track long-term glycemic control in patients with diabetes, but the American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommended earlier this year that clinicians also use the test for diagnosing the disease. In a recent interview with Medscape Medical News, Dr. David Nathan, chair of the International Expert Committee (IEC) that initially recommended using HbA1c for diabetes diagnosis, called the addition of HbA1c to the ADA’s recommended diabetes diagnostic testing arsenal, “…the first major departure in 30 years in diabetes diagnosis.”
Some members of the medical community are still not sure that HbA1c testing is the best strategy to use when diagnosing diabetes, however. During a morning presentation at AACC’s 2010 Annual Meeting at the Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, CA titled “Diabetes Diagnostic Update” on Tuesday, July 27, Dr. David Sacks, Medical Director of Clinical Chemistry at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Associate Professor of Pathology at Harvard University Medical School in Boston, will discuss the pros and cons of the ADA’s recommendations concerning the use of HbA1c for diagnosis. Other presenters will discuss its controversial role in predicting who is at greatest risk of developing diabetes.
Dr. Sacks has also been involved in efforts to standardize hemoglobin A1c, and was recently part of an International HbA1c Consensus Committee that is publishing the 2010 Consensus Statement on the Worldwide Standardization of the Hemoglobin A1c Measurement. The consensus statement is currently in press and will be published simultaneously in 2010 in Annals of Clinical Biochemistry, Clinical Chemistry, Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, Diabetes Care, Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, Diabetologia, Diabetic Medicine and Pediatric Diabetes. An e-pub ahead of print version became available from Clinical Chemistry on May 27, 2010 (doi:10.1373/clinchem.2010.150540). The consensus statement is significant in that it sets forth standards for all labs to use when measuring HbA1c for both research purposes and clinical pursuits.
AACC, based in Washington, DC, is a leading professional society dedicated to improving healthcare through laboratory medicine. Its over 9,000 members are clinical laboratory professionals, physicians, research scientists, and others involved in developing tests and directing laboratory operations. AACC brings this community together with programs that advance knowledge, expertise, and innovation. AACC’s Annual Meeting, which attracts around 20,000 delegates, is the world’s largest conference on laboratory medicine and technology.
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