To understand how your treatment plan is working or how efforts you are making to control your disease, A1C levels for diabetes testing is the real answer. The only way to tell what your average blood glucose levels have been over the last several months the A1C levels for diabetes test will give you the answer.
It is done by measuring the glycated hemoglobin percentage in the blood, or the HbA!c. It is not meant to replace the daily testing that need to be done, but if done about twice a year knowing your A1C levels for diabetes will give you a good general idea about how well the treatment plan you are using is, or isn’t working.
How does the A1C Levels for Diabetes Test Work?
Inside the red blood cells of your body is found a protein called hemoglobin. Hemoglobin carries oxygen from the lungs through the blood to all the cells in the body. Hemoglobin also has a characteristic that makes it link up with glucose. If your diabetes isn’t being controlled, or controlled well enough, excess glucose will be found in the blood. This is often called blood sugar. This excess glucose links with, or glycates, with the molecules of hemoglobin. The more extra glucose that’s in the bloodstream, the more of the hemoglobin gets glycated. So the A1C levels for diabetes test measures the percentage of A1C in the blood, and gives insight into the average glucose levels in the blood over the most recent two or three months.
How does the A1C levels for Diabetes Test Determine Historical Levels?
This may be best explained by giving an example of sorts. Let’s say that last week your blood sugar levels were high. During that week, more of your hemoglobin would have become glycated. But this week, for whatever reason, your blood sugar levels were better controlled and close to or at normal. The red blood cells will still carry the “memory” of the high levels of the previous week in the form of more A1C.
But every week, some of the red blood cells in the bloodstream die, and are replaced by new red blood cells. This is normal and happens in both diabetics and non-diabetics. The “new” red blood cells have “new” hemoglobin in them. If your blood sugar is being controlled, these new cells and their hemoglobin won’t become glycated, or will become glycated at a lower percentage. Since the average lifespan of a red blood cell is 120 days, the A1C levels for diabetes test will be measuring the A1C levels on an average of all the red blood cells and hemoglobin currently in the blood.
A normal person without diabetes will have about 5% of their hemoglobin glycated. Someone can measure as high as 25% glycated hemoglobin in a A1C levels for diabetes test if they have poorly controlled their diabetes. Measurements in between are evaluated by your physician.
Measuring the A1C levels for diabetes patients is a good way for them to tell if what they have been doing in recent months is working or not. If you are trying alternative medicine treatment rather than insulin, this test can give you a good idea if it is working or not. Don’t forget to ask your medical care team to perform this important test for you.
