Help finding a post

I read a post the other day about red blood cells and exercise. Actually it was a reply. I didn’t write down the name of what I wanted to research. Now I can’t find it. Sigh. The post stated that there are something that begins with the letter T that are on the outside of the blood cell. The T___ s go away one the older the cell gets, but stick around longer when there is exercise. These T______act like doorways and help glucose get into the cells. When you exercise you don’t need as much insulin. I knew this part. My question is *What is the name of the T____ things? **I also wondered that if the red cells lasted longer and were gluconated, would that make your A1C go up? Thanks to anyone who remembers this.

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Is this the comment you were looking for?

I thought telomeres, however, are the end caps of DNA strands. Same concept with the length indicating age. Long telomeres equal younger age and shorter telomeres meaning older age.

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Could it have been a “Transporter?”

This article talks about things that affect a1c. The A1C Test & Diabetes | NIDDK

" A1C tests can be affected by changes in red blood cells or hemoglobin

Conditions that change the life span of red blood cells, such as recent blood loss, sickle cell disease NIH external link , erythropoietin treatment, hemodialysis, or transfusion, can change A1C levels.

A falsely high A1C result can occur in people who are very low in iron; for example, those with iron-deficiency anemia NIH external link . Other causes of false A1C results include kidney failure or liver disease.

If you’re of African, Mediterranean, or Southeast Asian descent or have family members with sickle cell anemia or a thalassemia NIH external link , an A1C test can be unreliable for diagnosing or monitoring diabetes and prediabetes. People in these groups may have a different type of hemoglobin, known as a hemoglobin variant, which can interfere with some A1C tests. Most people with a hemoglobin variant have no symptoms and may not know that they carry this type of hemoglobin. Health care professionals may suspect interference—a falsely high or low result—when your A1C and blood glucose test results don’t match."

Thank you Terry4. That is it.

That wasn’t the article, but this is good info too. Thank you so much for taking the time to respond.

You have helped so many people, including me.