Hemoglobin A1c, HgbA1C , glycosylated hemoglobin or A1c for short, gives you a picture of your average blood sugar over 2 to 3 months. Red blood cells are tiny flexible discs responsible for carrying fresh oxygen throughout the body. Oxygen binds to hemoglobin, a special protein within these cells. Red blood cells are designed to CARRY oxygen, not burn it, so instead they rely on sugar for the energy they use to travel.
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To better understand the HgbA1c test, also known as glycosylated hemoglobin, you will need to remember the last time you ate fried dough at the county fair. For your enjoyment, small, delicious pieces of fried dough are thrown into a greasy paper bag with loads of powdered sugar. The bag is shaken up, mixing the sugar and the dough together, coating the dough with a sweet amount of sugary goodness. The more sugar added to the bag, the thicker the powdered coating will be. Your red blood cell is no different than a yummy dough ball! The more sugar the cell is exposed to, the more sugar that will attach to it over time.
Because we know that the red blood cell lives approximately 3 months, when we measure how much sugar has attached to it, doctors can estimate the average blood sugar over an extended period of time. This makes the HgbA1C a much better test than a finger stick.
Your HgbA1C can be used to estimate your average daily blood sugar level
(input your HgbA1C level into this calculator)
A1C Levels for diabetics:
Normal A1c is considered anything equal or under 5.6%. Pre-diabetes is diagnosed when the A1C value falls between 5.7 and 6.4%. Diabetes is diagnosed when the test is 6.5% or higher.
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Personally, I do not approach “pre-diabetes” as a separate entity to diabetes. The pathological processes in pre-diabetes are the same as those in diabetes. The difference is in the size of the problem. This is why I propose the use of “small diabetes” instead of “pre-diabetes”.. The term “pre-diabetes” comes from a period in time where the only drugs available to treat diabetes caused significant amounts of hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia is a dangerous issue that should be avoided at all costs. Treating “small diabetes” with these drugs was dangerous because of the risk of hypoglycemia, so “lifestyle changes” where the only… Read more »
A lot of diabetes experts would agree with Dr Taveras. In fact,a very well know diabetes researcher Dr Ralph Defronzo presented in his Banting Lecture, at the ADA, a very similar opinion as to why even prediabetes should be treated early on: http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=19336687.
One of the most important criteria in choosing a medication for diabetes / prediabetes is that it does not cause hypoglycemia or abnormally low blood sugar levels. Using this rule, doctors can more safely choose medications early on in prediabetes that can also assist with weight loss.