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International Diabetes Study Establishes GlycoMark as Definitive Test for Blood Sugar Swings in Seemingly Well-Controlled Patients

Posted by Dana in June 10th 2009

A team of researchers sponsored by three major international diabetes organizations has definitively established that the GlycoMark test (1,5-AG), a simple blood test used to measure glucose control in patients with diabetes, accurately reveals potentially dangerous fluctuations in blood sugar that are undetectable by other means.

The findings support a need for a new paradigm that includes testing patients with the GlycoMark test for glucose variability in addition to the “hemoglobin A1C” test, which measures average glucose levels. A1C had long been considered the “gold standard” in determining whether patients’ diabetes is under control.

The study confirms earlier data and establishes the GlycoMark test as the only blood test proven to detect glycemic variability and hyperglycemic episodes in moderately controlled patients who have Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes mellitus– which affect a total of more than 246 million adults and children worldwide.

The findings were announced on June 6, 2009, at the annual Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association (ADA).

“Chronic hyperglycemia in patients with diabetes has been associated with increased risk of vascular complications that can lead to stroke, heart attack, and blindness. Severe hypoglycemia can lead to hospitalization. Better testing of glucose control is expected to decrease such risks.”

According to diabetes expert Irl Hirsch, Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine: “A1C is helpful in tracking broad glucose targets, but it only tells part of the story because it masks short term glycemic variability.”

“I would become concerned if a patient has an A1C level that is within target, but a GlycoMark score that is abnormal; there may be a risk for life-threatening hypoglycemia and I can immediately explore where therapy changes need to occur. GlycoMark is a critical adjunct to A1C testing and presents a new paradigm for effective diabetes management.”

The study was conducted as a follow on to the 2006-2008 international A1C- Derived Average Glucose (ADAG) study of more than 600 patients from ten research centers worldwide. ADAG is sponsored by the American Diabetes Association (ADA), International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD).