This is what would typically be expected for someone who does not have diabetes. If your body becomes less efficient at moving glucose into your cells to be used for energy, or insulin resistant , then levels may increase from 5. Those with levels from 6. Your healthcare provider can advise you on an individualized A1C goal that takes into consideration factors such as:. There are some conditions that can affect A1C levels, which your healthcare professional will be aware of, including anemia and sickle cell disease.
A1C results are not good or bad, they are information. Living with diabetes brings many challenges, and some aspects of controlling blood glucose can be out of your control, such as pain from an injury, stress, not being able to eat on time, and more. When it comes to diabetes self-management, the more information you have, the better.
Although an A1C level gives you a sense of average glucose levels over the past few months, a person with type 1 or type 2 diabetes needs a blood glucose meter to check blood sugar and make treatment decisions on a day-to-day basis. If you test often during the day — like before and after meals and other times that your blood sugar can vary — and use an accurate glucose meter , this can give you valuable information on daily variations in blood sugar levels.
Many blood glucose meters are also equipped to provide 7, 14, 30, or day averages. A day average on your meter can be used in the calculator above to estimate how it may correlate to an A1C. Glucose meter averages are based on the frequency that you have tested per day, so if you do not have many data points i. The EAG value from the A1C calculator tells you how your blood glucose numbers are averaging in a unit of measure that is familiar, like on a blood glucose meter.
This value should not be used for treatment decisions, but rather for helping you correlate A1C to an estimated average glucose to give you a better idea of how close you are to your target ranges. People often wonder how long it will take to improve their A1C number. By following your diabetes self-care plan, you can improve your A1C by your next three-month check.
Your A1C may continue to go down at each visit if you continue to partner with your healthcare provider and follow the tips above. Nevertheless, it seems as though HbA1c correlates to any single glucose measurement. Having more than one measurement and taking those measurements in the preceding month improves the correlation further.
In particular, by having glucose measurements that reflect both the relatively lower overnight glucose levels and measurements that reflect the postprandial peaks improves not only our ability to manage diabetes patients, but also our understanding of how HbA1c levels are determined. A part of your treatment plan will include self-monitoring at home with a blood glucose meter or other device. Your health care team will direct you on how often and when you should test your blood sugar.
The measurement shows your blood sugar level at the time you do the test. Therefore, there is some variability throughout the day based on eating, exercise, stress and other factors. Self-monitoring helps you make choices about diet and exercise and daily treatment goals, but it also helps you track whether you are meeting your A1C target.
The most common form of the oxygen-transporting hemoglobin protein is called hemoglobin A. The presence of other variants of the protein may result in inaccurate A1C test results.
Hemoglobin variants are more common among people of African, Mediterranean or Southeast Asian descent. If you have a hemoglobin variant, your test may need to be sent to a specialized lab or you may need a different test for diagnosis and monitoring of diabetes. Explore Mayo Clinic studies of tests and procedures to help prevent, detect, treat or manage conditions. Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products.
Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission. This content does not have an English version. This content does not have an Arabic version. Sections for A1C test About. Overview The A1C test is a common blood test used to diagnose type 1 and type 2 diabetes. More Information Diabetes Diabetic hyperosmolar syndrome Hyperglycemia in diabetes Prediabetes Type 1 diabetes Type 1 diabetes in children Type 2 diabetes Type 2 diabetes in children Show more related information.
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