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What is Fructosamine test?
This test looks for the amount of fructosamine circulating in your bloodstream.
Fructosamine is a compound formed by the combination of sugars, commonly glucose, with the proteins (usually albumin as it is the most abundant protein in blood) in your blood. As long as the said protein would be present in your bloodstream, the sugar will remain combined to it. Since most serum proteins only have a life of 2-3 weeks, that is how long fructosamine stays in your circulation. The levels of fructosamine in your bloodstream hence correspond to changes your blood sugar levels over 2 to 3 weeks.
This test is used for monitoring blood sugar levels in diabetic people and to modify the dose of anti-diabetic medicines in such people.
Normally, Glycosylated or glycated haemoglobin or HbA1C test is used to check blood sugar levels. Glycosylated or glycated haemoglobin test measures the blood sugar that binds with haemoglobin, a protein attached to the iron component inside the red blood cells. However, this test gives average blood sugar levels for over the past 2 - 3 months (the life span of RBCs). Also, HbA1C cannot be done in individuals who have a variant of haemoglobin such as hemoglobin S in sickle cell disease, in those who have alterations in their red blood cell lifespan or whose red blood cells die before their normal life span of 120 days.
A fructosamine test thus helps in assessing the more recent status of the blood sugar in diabetic people.
Fructosamine test is also useful in other conditions where the HbA1C test is not suitable, such as chronic renal disease and anaemia caused due to deficiency of vitamin B12 or iron deficiency.
Additionally, studies show that HbA1C is high in certain groups of people in Africa and America, irrespective of the glucose levels in their blood, which leads to errors in the HbA1C results.
Research studies also show that HbA1C fluctuates commonly during pregnancy due to a reduction in blood sugar level and iron deficiency anemia. As fructosamine levels do not depend on the structure of haemoglobin or red blood cells in the blood, fructosamine test helps monitor blood sugar level in pregnant women and aids in the management of diabetes during pregnancy.
