Red blood cell oxygen has been released the resulting deoxyhemoglobin is of a dark red burgundy color. However, blood can appear bluish when seen through the vessel wall and skin. Pulse oximetry takes advantage of the hemoglobin color change to directly measure the arterial blood oxygen saturation using colorimetric techniques. Hemoglobin also has a very high affinity for carbon monoxide, forming carboxyhemoglobin which is a very bright red in color. Flushed, confused patients with a saturation reading of 100% on pulse oximetry are sometimes found to be suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning. Having oxygen-carrying proteins inside specialized cells (as opposed to oxygen carriers
Glycated hemoglobin Glycated hemoglobin Glycated hemoglobin (hemoglobin A1c, HbA1c, A1C, or less commonly HgbA1c, haemoglobin A1c, HbA, Hb1c, etc.) is a form of hemoglobin that is bound to glucose. It is formed in a non-enzymatic glycation pathway by hemoglobin's exposure to plasma glucose. It is measured primarily to identify the three-month average plasma glucose concentration and thus can be used as a diagnostic test for diabetes and as assessment test for glycemic control in people with diabetes. The test is limited to a three-month average because the lifespan of a red blood cell is four months (120 days). However, since red blood