Racial Differences in the Relationship of Glucose Concentrations and Hemoglobin A1c Levels

Letters6 February 2018Racial Differences in the Relationship of Glucose Concentrations and Hemoglobin A1c LevelsRajesh Garg, MDRajesh Garg, MDUniversity of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida (R.G.)Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/L17-0588 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:Bergenstal and colleagues' excellent study (1) confirms existing data and removes any doubts about the increased glycation of hemoglobin in black persons. However, clinicians should be careful about applying these findings to their practice. All current evidence on the clinical benefits of glycemic control is based on hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) rather than blood glucose levels. Hemoglobin A1c goals should therefore remain the same for black and white persons, although physicians should be aware that the risk for hypoglycemia is higher in black persons at the same HbA1c levels.Reference1. Bergenstal RM, Gal RL, Connor CG, Gubitosi-Klug R, Kruger D, Olson BA, et al; T1D Exchange Racial Differences Study Group. Racial differences in the relationship of glucose concentrations and hemoglobin A1c levels. Ann Intern Med. 2017;167:95-102. [PMID: 28605777]. doi:10.7326/M16-2596 LinkGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida (R.G.)Disclosures: The author has disclosed no conflicts of interest. The form can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=L17-0588. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoRacial Differences in the Relationship of Glucose Concentrations and Hemoglobin A1c Levels Richard M. Bergenstal , Robin L. Gal , Crystal G. Connor , Rose Gubitosi-Klug , Davida Kruger , Beth A. Olson , Steven M. Willi , Grazia Aleppo , Ruth S. Weinstock , Jamie Wood , Michael Rickels , Linda A. DiMeglio , Kathleen E. Bethin , Santica Marcovina , Andreana Tassopoulos , Sooji Lee , Elaine Massaro , Suzan Bzdick , Brian Ichihara , Eileen Markmann , Paul McGuigan , Stephanie Woerner , Michelle Ecker , Roy W. Beck , and Racial Differences in the Relationship of Glucose Concentrations and Hemoglobin A1c Levels Richard M. Bergenstal , Robin L. Gal , and Roy W. Beck Metrics 6 February 2018Volume 168, Issue 3Page: 232KeywordsAttentionBloodConflicts of interestDisclosureGlucoseGlycationHbA1cHemoglobinHypoglycemia ePublished: 6 February 2018 Issue Published: 6 February 2018 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2018 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...