In pregnant women without diabetes, having more red blood cells might make their blood sugar test results look higher than they really are, even if their actual sugar levels are normal.

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Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

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Glycated hemoglobin and red blood cell indices in non-diabetic pregnant women

Cross-Sectional Study

Human

2017 Sep 15

The study found that in pregnant women without diabetes, those with more red blood cells (measured by hematocrit) tended to have higher HbA1c levels, even if their blood sugar was normal. This supports the idea that red blood cell levels can affect HbA1c readings.

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Source Study

Glycated hemoglobin and red blood cell indices in non-diabetic pregnant women

Score: 37

DOI: 10.4081/cp.2017.999

Similar Assertions

In pregnant women without diabetes, having more hemoglobin in the blood is linked to slightly higher HbA1c levels — a marker usually tied to blood sugar — suggesting that blood cell levels might affect this test even if sugar isn't high.

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In pregnant women who don’t have diabetes, things like red blood cell size and volume don’t seem to affect their HbA1c blood test results in any meaningful way.

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In pregnant women who don’t have diabetes, having denser hemoglobin in their red blood cells might be linked to slightly higher blood sugar levels over time.

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HbA1c tells you how much sugar has been sticking to your blood cells over the past few months — it's like a long-term blood sugar report card.

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