HbA1c better predictor of diabetes, heart disease than fasting blood glucose

Endocrine Today

HbA1c tests provide similar diabetes measurements to the traditional fasting blood glucose test, but the HbA1c excels in predicting future heart disease and stroke risks, researchers concluded in a new study.

As a diagnostic tool, “HbA1c has significant advantages over fasting glucose,” researcher Elizabeth Selvin, PhD, MPH, assistant professor of epidemiology and medicine in the department of epidemiology at the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said in a press release.

The researchers compared the prognostic value of fasting glucose vs. HbA1c in identifying adults at risk for cardiovascular disease or diabetes. They measured samples from more than 11,000 black and white adults with no history of diabetes or CVD who participated in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study (1990-1992).