The use of diet and exercise in the management of diabetes and A1C levels kept at a healthy range significantly reduces the risk of developing complications of diabetes. A1C levels are given in percentage form, indicating the percent of hemoglobin A that has been converted by the presence of sugar into hemoglobin A1C. A1C percentage values can be converted into average blood glucose (mg/dL) which is often more familiar to patients. The American Diabetes Association’s ClinicalDiabetes journal uses the following values to assess diabetes control and health risk based on A1C. A1C less than or equal to 6% (135 mg/dL) shows an excellent degree of control of glucose and very low risk. 7% (170 mg/dL) is considered excellent with low risk while 8% (205 mg/dL) shows a good degree of control and good risk. Medium risk is 9% (240 mg/dL) with a fair degree of control. 10% AIC (275 mg/dL) shows poor control and a high risk and 11% (310 mg/dL) is very poor with very high risk. Equal to or greater than 12% (345 mg/dL) is extremely poor control with extremely high risk to health. (http://clinical.diabetesjournals.org/content/24/1/9/T1.expansion.html).
Pre-Diabetes A1C Levels
A1C testing has also been shown to be a useful tool in the diagnosis of pre-diabetes. After the release of new A1C criterion for diagnosis of pre-diabetes, a 2010 research study analyzed survey data taken from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1999-2006. The percentage of pre-diabetics was determined using A1C and impaired fasting glucose (IFG) separately. A1C levels for diagnosis of pre-diabetes are 5.7-6.4% and IFG is 100-125 mg/dL. The prevalence of pre-diabetes according to IFG results was 28.2% of adults whereas A1C yielded 12.6%. Using both definitions, only 7.7% of adults had pre-diabetes. In terms of population numbers, A1C would have re-classified 37.6 million Americans with IFG to not having pre-diabetes and 8.9 million without IFG classified as pre-diabetic. The researchers measured 27% sensitivity, 93% specificity, 61% positive reduction rate, and 77% negative reduction rate in the A1C criteria. Due to the dramatic difference in the criteria of the two tests to measure pre-diabetes, the researchers found it essential to make these variables known to health care professionals.
Managing Diabetes and A1C Level Reduction
An important step to reducing your A1C levels is daily blood sugar monitoring, learning how blood sugar responds to your dietary choices. Create a meal plan counting carbohydrates and limiting saturated fats and sodium. Exercise is another important step. The ADA recommends 30 minutes of aerobic activity five days a week. If you are taking medications it is important to take them on time every day and at the proper dose.
Related articles: Diabetes Thiazolidinediones |
