Fructosamine Test Leads to Better Control in Diabetes Patients
Fructosamine has benefits over glycosalated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in that it can monitor control of sugar over a period of a few weeks, whereas the other tests check your previous 3 months’ average.
A test that allows diabetes patients to monitor their fructosamine levels at home, coupled with a system to notify their physician if the levels become too high, leads to lower glycosylated hemoglobin levels. Fructosamine is a glycosylated protein that can be monitored over a 2 to 3 week period, while glycosylated hemoglobin can only be monitored every 3 months, according to Dr. Steven V. Edelman of the University of California, San Diego, and colleagues. Dr. Edelman noted that the test is widely used among diabetes specialists to monitor diabetes during pregnancy. “Basically it’s immediate feedback,” he told Reuters Health, noting that he is diabetic himself and uses the fructosamine test. “You can do it on the same meter [as glucose] with a drop of blood, you don’t have to go to the lab and get your arm stuck and wait for the interpretation of the results.”