People who possess diabetes should undergo HbA1c test periodically to see if their levels are lingering within range. It can determine if the individual needs to modify his or her diabetes medicines. The A1c test mainly diagnoses diabetic status and if you are looking for an obscure way to gauge your average blood sugar levels for the last several months, hemoglobin A1c test will be the best. Get a precise level of blood sugar over the past 3 to 4 months. It’s one of the best ways to stay safe when you have a thought lingering your mind that I have pre diabetic symptoms.
What Does an A1c Measure?
Individuals with elevated blood sugars have some sugar that binds to the hemoglobin molecules in their red blood cells. Once you get an idea that how much of this binding has occurred, we can get an approximation of your average blood sugars over recent months.
The A1c Test helps in diagnosing type 2 diabetes or Pre-Diabetic condition. Pharmaceutical guidelines have validated the A1c criteria for a diabetes diagnosis wherein the normal level is below 5.7 percent, for pre-diabetes it is between 5.7 to 6.4 percent and for diabetes, it is 6.5 percent or above.
How to Evaluate Your A1c?
A1c is distinguished clearly throughout the world. In countries like the United States, it is distributed as a percentage whereas in most of the other countries, it is described as mmol/mol. The A1c is often declared along with Estimated Average Blood Glucose (eAG) and this is being depicted as mg/dL in the United States and mmol/L in other countries of the world.
In overall, the global agreement is that the ideal point for healthy individuals is below 6.5%. Individuals suffering from diabetes wish to aim for A1c goals of 6% or below, often by obeying strict, low-carbohydrate nutrition and proactive monitoring of blood sugars to avoid low blood sugars.
If you have a lower A1c it’s great, but only if it can be achieved harmlessly. Higher blood sugars may create difficulties decades from now, but a critically low blood sugar can induce a fatal car crash now. So be intelligent and be protected with your goals.
Constraints of the A1c Test
The A1c test has some constraints as it is the study of the average blood sugars, it can seldom be an ordinary estimate of your success. Let’s take an example.
Say an Individual Rohit who has an A1c of 7. This corresponds to an average blood sugar of 154 mg/dL or 8.6 mmol. Rohit has many tight turns and steep slopes in his blood sugar levels. On some days he has critical low blood sugars going down to 40 mg/dL or 2 mmol and on other days his sugar levels soars up to 300 mg/dL or 17 mmol before crashing back down.
Now if we calculate the average of these severe lows and highs it comes out to about 150 mg/dL. Tomy on another hand has 90 days of blood sugars of exactly 150 mg/dL or 8.6 mmol which is consistent in nature. Here the question arises who is at a higher risk of complexities?
The dilemma with the A1c test is that excessive swings in blood sugars can guide to a lower A1c. Nonetheless, when it comes to overcoming complications, it is probably more necessary to spend more time in your target blood sugar range than it is to use low blood sugars to lower your A1c.
Get the best Estimates
The A1c test estimates how much sugar has connected to hemoglobin cells. As hemoglobin cells live up to about 120 days which is their normal life span, we can receive an aggregate of your blood sugars during this10 days. The RBCs are cells which are constantly dying and being replaced, there are more cells from current months than those that are nearing the end of their life. So, in practice, your A1c is a great indicator of your average blood sugars over the last 90 days and especially the last 60 days.
Reference
Though Diabetes has taken a epidemic toll across the world but still it could be managed under the guidance of the best diabetes doctor in Delhi, Dr Mudit Sabharwal can give you a much deeper insight about the Hb1ac levels in the human body.
Tags: Blood Glucose, Hba1cCategorised in: Diabetes Test