What the test
consists of
Diabetes is a national priority. Malta has one of the highest rates of diabetes in the EU. Diabetes is a medical condition that affects the body’s ability to produce and use insulin affecting the ability to use blood sugar.
The pharmacist can play an important role in diabetes care by screening patients at high risk for diabetes, assessing the patient’s health status and adherence to standards of care, educating patients to empower them, referring patients to other health care professionals as appropriate, and monitoring outcomes.
Close monitoring of blood sugar levels is a key part of understanding the risk of developing diabetes or diabetic complications. Good diabetes care and management is an essential part of keeping healthy.
Brown’s Pharmacy offers a comprehensive Diabetes Package, featuring diagnostic tests to assess diabetic risk and health status.
The diagnostic tests measure;
- Fasting Blood Glucose
- HbA1c
- Blood Cholesterol
- Blood Triglycerides
- Blood Pressure
- Body Mass Index
The Diabetes Package empowers patients with professional advice and support. Immediate test results will allow the pharmacist to provide professional advice together with a recipe book prepared by expert dieticians providing the patients with diet and nutritional support.
What is HbA1c?
HbA1c is a measure of glycated haemoglobin, this develops when haemoglobin, a protein within red blood cells that carries oxygen throughout your body, joins with glucose in the blood, becoming ‘glycated’. With just one drop of finger-prick blood the HbA1c test identifies the average plasma glucose concentration and serves as an overall marker of the patient’s glucose level over a period of 2-3 months. In non-diabetics, the HbA1C test assesses the patient’s risk of developing diabetes, while in diabetics it assesses diabetes control.
The Diabetes Package is available at all Brown’s Pharmacies by appointment.