Behind the Scenes: History of New Diabetes Factsheet Shows Government at Work
(Washington, DC) – It was hardly a memorable exchange, as Capitol Hill hearings go. When Dr. Griffin Rodgers from the National Institute on Diabetes and Digestive Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) testified before the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health, Human Services and Education March 6th, 2007, there were no sparks or accusations, just a simple question.
Congresswoman Barbara Lee, an African American Democrat who represents Oakland, California, asked about the possible public health consequences false diabetes diagnoses resulting from the common A1C test being administered to people with sickle cell trait.
Following up on Lee’s question, further research by NIDDK revealed that there was a problem with false positivenegative tests when physicians used the so called “hemoglobin A1C” test to diagnose diabetes or measure blood sugar levels in patients who had sickle cell. The research also revealed that the A1C test was also potentially ineffective for other ethnic groups with variant strains of hemoglobin, such as people of Mediterranean, or Southeast Asian heritage.
When the A1C is administered to individuals with variant hemoglobin they may be falsely diagnosed or misdiagnosed and may possibly be over- or under-treated based on false blood glucose levels reported by the test, which could then also create further health complications.
As a result of the exchange in the hearing, this month, NIDDK is releasing two new fact sheets to alert people to the problem, one for patients and one for physicians.
“The fact that a commonly used diabetes test is unreliable among people of African, Mediterranean, or Southeast Asian heritage, speaks volumes about the need to re-evaluate our health systems and our approach to diagnosis, care and treatment to meet the unique needs of minority communities,” said Lee. “The release of these two new fact sheets by the NIDDK, specifically targeted to people of African, Mediterranean, or Southeast Asian heritage, is an important step towards the goal of ensuring that our system of public health works for everyone, regardless of race or ethnicity.”
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