Read the primary source rather than the write-up and the two do not agree, so here is what is actually in it.
The variables that decide how a cross-border order goes are declaration wording, the destination country's import rules for prescription medicines, and whether the shipment looks commercial. Personal-import allowances exist in some jurisdictions and not in others, and where they exist they are usually conditional on a prescription and a quantity limit. The failure mode is normally a seizure notice rather than anything worse, and a reshipment policy is the thing worth confirming before ordering rather than after.
Where I think it is weakest: the population was selected and supported in ways a real cohort is not, so I would read the effect size as a ceiling rather than an expectation.
What I am after is which of the variables in a cross-border order actually determine the outcome, and which are superstition. Practical detail welcome, however dull — the duller the better.
Figures above are from the primary publication rather than the press summary. If a number here disagrees with one you have, post yours and we will work out which of us is reading a secondary source.
NurseLeah_Nash said:The variables that decide how a cross-border order goes are declaration wording, the destination country's import rules for prescription medicines,…
Agreed, with the caveat that HbA1c is unreliable in anaemia, haemoglobinopathies and recent blood loss, all of which are commoner than people assume. If it disagrees with fasting glucose or a CGM, that is worth chasing.
NurseLeah_Nash said:The variables that decide how a cross-border order goes are declaration wording, the destination country's import rules for prescription medicines,…
This is where I part company with the consensus forming above. Import rules are jurisdiction-specific and this board keeps giving US-shaped answers to non-US questions. What is a personal-import allowance in one country is a controlled-import offence in another.
Correct me if the detail matters more than I have assumed.
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Browse GL BiochemThis one has a reasonably settled answer, so here it is. HbA1c reflects roughly three months of average glycaemia weighted toward the most recent weeks, which is why repeating it at six weeks tells you very little. The improvement on this class comes from two directions — direct glucose-dependent insulin secretion and glucagon suppression, plus the indirect effect of weight loss on insulin sensitivity — and the second continues after the first has plateaued.
JennaRN said:Agreed, with the caveat that HbA1c is unreliable in anaemia, haemoglobinopathies and recent blood loss, all of which are commoner than people assume.
Can confirm. Same sequence, different timescale. I had assumed I was the exception until I read this.