Know your status! What has your blood sugar been up to lately? Get an A1C test to find out your status —important to know if you’re at risk for prediabetes or type 2 diabetes, or if you’re managing your diabetes.
A1C test—also known as the hemoglobin A1C or HbA1c test is a simple blood test that measures your average blood sugar levels over the past 3 months. It’s one of the commonly used tests to diagnose prediabetes, diabetes and used as an assessment test for glycemic control in people with diabetes. When sugar enters your bloodstream, it attaches to hemoglobin, a protein in your red blood cells. Everybody has some sugar attached to their hemoglobin, but people with higher blood sugar levels have more. The A1C test measures the percentage of your red blood cells that have sugar-coated hemoglobin. This test is limited to a three-month average because the average lifespan of a red blood cell is four months. In diabetes, higher amounts of A1C (glycated hemoglobin), indicates poor control of blood glucose levels.
